Today, on the tenth day of Spring, you leave the house.
It's been a difficult year up to now. Your inner world, as well as the world around you, feels chipped, loose, wobbly.
You decide there's only one thing for it: [[write a poem->Start]].
(set: $backpack to (dm:))You grab a tote bag and a scarf from a table drawer in the hallway. It's been warming up lately, but you still don't know what the day might throw at you.
As you lock the front door behind you, you peek inside your tote bag to check you have everything you need. Lucky you did – you almost forgot your (cycling-link: "water bottle", "phone", "car keys", "magazine", "notebook")!
Outside, the sky (cycling-link: "is almost clear", "has small clouds dotted across it") and the weather is warm. A few people are strolling along the foothpath, enjoying the day.
There are so many places to visit today, but you think you should start by deciding between the [[park]], the [[river]], or the [[arcade]].
You walk through an old stone arch out onto a spotty expanse of scrub. Banyans and gum trees obscure the edges of the park, which slope down towards the [[river]]. There are birds calling, and the distant buzz of (cycling-link: "a leaf blower", "a lawn mower", "an amateur drone"). You pick a cicada shell off a nearby tree and carefully stick it on your sleeve.
A small dirt path loops the open areas of the park. You follow it, stepping off into the grass when bikes and prams pass. Under a large banyan someone is dozing, their hand bookmarking the pages of a novel you read while stuck inside.
From here, you can glimpse the [[river]] and the [[rabbit field]] through the tree line. Or you could take the exit on the far side of the park to the [[arcade]].
(set: $backpack to $backpack + (dm: "park", "metamorphosing by the Morton Bay figs"))You hear it before you see it, and then you can smell it, too. The river is slow today. Thickets of fern refract the sunlight so that the dirt is green, the branches are green, the stepping stones that bridge the riverbanks are green as well. A pair of cabbage moths flicker to your left.
You could (cycling-link: "follow the moths", "sit on the stepping stones", "cross to the other side", "climb one of the willows").
Where to now? You could visit the [[rabbit field]], or go back to the [[park]]. If you followed the river, you’ll get to the [[tower]] or even the [[beach]].
(set: $backpack to $backpack + (dm: "river", "sllloooooowww drain slowly out"))The door jangles as it shuts. Inside, the arcade is buzzing. Lights and buttons for as far as the eye can see. Somewhere someone is buttering popcorn. A disco ball sends blue squares into the windows of the coin-operated machines. You have just enough money for one game.
Which one will you choose? The answer is obvious: (cycling-link: "the fortune teller", "pinball", "the love tester", "the claw machine", "skeeball") has always been your favourite.
Where to now? You could stop in by the [[milk bar]] on the other side of the arcade, although you’d need to pass the [[haunted toilet]]. Or you could head to the [[tram stop]] on the way to the [[park]].
(set: $backpack to $backpack + (dm: "arcade", "all abuzz with secret electronic trinkets"))(if: (passage:)'s name is "home")[<!--Do nothing-->]
(else-if: (passage:)'s tags contains "cannotGoHome")[<!--Do nothing-->]
(else:)[Or maybe it's time to head [[home]].]What a day!
You sit down at your dining table and write freely and without pause your meditations on the day:
{(set: $poem_lines to (datavalues: $backpack))
(set: $poem_lines to (shuffled: ...$poem_lines))
}
(for: each _line, ...$poem_lines)[_line <br>]
[[Play again?->Pre-start]]As (cycling-link: "cabbage moths", "fairy lights") flicker, a rabbit flits and startles, brushing fern thickets with a loud rustle. You sit on the dew-damp grass and wait for the rabbit to return. They nuzzle their brown face through foliage and begin sniffing the air. You wonder what they smell? (cycling-link: "Soft flowers", "Dust of dirt", "You").
As the [[river]] bends, you think you can make out the [[tower]] in the distance. Or perhaps there’s more animals to see at the [[zoo->rabbit field to zoo]].
(set: $backpack to $backpack + (dm: "rabbit", "as dewdrops diamond in the green, something sharpens in your dream"))Taller than it looks from the bottom
Something from 2 decades ago, trying to look like the future
Empty, dirty, nostalgia
As high as seagulls, see the [[park]] [[river]] and [[beach]] bellow, and the [[milk bar->tower to milk bar]] too
The ringing of metal steps and laboured footsteps
Someones forgotten: rubbish, hat, lunch, child
(set: $backpack to $backpack + (dm: "tower", "the future collapses before it has arrived"))Salty air whips across your face. On the sand, several seagulls vie for the debris of a half-eaten box of chips.
You walk along the shore to the end of the beach, picking up small shells along the way. Just before the sand gives way to coastal rock, you spot a dark whorled thing poking out from a mass of seaweed. A shark egg – you remember Maddy in primary school brought one to show and tell. You briefly consider sticking it in your backpack, then decide against it.
You climb up onto the rocks and find a shallow cave, worn out by millenia of tidal activity. Once comfortable, you get out your phone and start playing soft music through your earphones, volume low enough to mix with the slosh of the ocean.
After an hour, you feel ready to move on. Maybe a stop at the [[milk bar]]? You can see the [[tower->beach to tower]] in the distance, and past that the grove of trees that rings the [[rabbit field]].
(set: $backpack to $backpack + (dm: "beach", "With the roll of the sea, memories rise to the top like foam"))The strip curtains are ambient with sunlight: blue, yellow, red. There is a low wall of milk crates on the back wall. The crates are filled mostly with glass milk bottles; tightly-packed, they hum as you walk past.
You crouch down to pick up a bottle of soy. You spot the crate on the bottom left. This crate belongs to the old cat who’s lived here for who knows how long, it’s outfitted with hessian sacks to keep her warm.
You go into the centre aisle and reach for a (cycling-link: "can of beans", "chocolate bar"). And there’s the cat, curled up between the cans of tuna. Prrrt, you say. Her eyes are milky and squinting. She stretches her paw.
Back outside, you see an old poster for an open-air market near the [[rabbit field->milk bar to rabbit field]]. Through the [[arcade]] you could stop by the [[restrooms->haunted toilet]] or head to the [[tram stop]].
(set: $backpack to $backpack + (dm: "milk", "sunlit milk crates, casting glow on humming, purring cat"))Creaking Doors and Vacant Stalls bare feet cold and icy as you slide across the cement, fingers outstretched to grab (Cycling-link: "A Wall", "A Stall Door", "A Sink", "The Creepy Hand"). Seizing it you feel your head spinning, legs clicking you fall hands losing grip you feel the cursed hand seize (Cycling-Link: "you once more", "you").
You decide it’s time to leave. Perhaps you go to the [[beach->toilet to beach]] or the [[zoo]].
(set: $backpack to $backpack + (dm: "toilet", "some bones whisper, some get the jitters"))Your feet feel heavy, perhaps you should have worn more comfortable shoes. You decide to give them a break for a few minutes and take the tram up town. A man in a sweater vest stands next to you and from his pocket you can hear his music playing out loud. You (cycling-link: "love", "hate") this song: (cycling-link: "Brown Eyed Girl", "Daydream Believer"). He notices you (cycling-link: "nodding along", "rolling your eyes") and turns (cycling-link: "up", "down") the volume.
He hesitates for a second then takes a step onto the road to check how far the next tram is. There’s one coming now, it’s stopped at the lights.
The tram will go all the way to the [[tower]] via the [[arcade]] if you catch it. But wait, do you need to go to the [[toilet->haunted toilet]]? Or maybe you should grab something to take with you at the [[milk bar]]?
(set: $backpack to $backpack + (dm: "tram", "Traffic lights , Speeding cars music rings throughout the Tram lines"))Scrambling down the steps, bare feet on hot bricks, salt cracked skin, too much sun...exhausted. Legs heavy, tired, dead tired. I need [[a seat->milk bar]].Above the bats are sleeping, swaying like the pinecones while the (cycling-link: "monkeys", "hyenas", "parrots") cackle behind their walls. You follow the path to the ticket booth hidden behind posters and potted plants. With a swipe of your card, you slip through the gate and into a jungle. Somewhere beyond the ferns a (cycling-link: "tiger", "lion", "seal") waits for feeding time and the birds swoop through the (cycling-link: "greens", "flowers", "water fountain"). You don’t grab a map, instead you wander. Chatter and exhausted children’s voices ripple down one path; the other is silent. You take the quiet path, circle by lazing animals. Their calm resonates inside you as tiredness weighs your legs heavy. Maybe it’s time to go somewhere else to rest or lie out on a bench… A kid’s wail stings the quiet - it’s decided. You’re gone before the next cry.
Do you leave for the [[tram stop->zoo to tram stop]] through the [[park]], or do you take the winding path down to the [[beach]]?
(set: $backpack to $backpack + (dm: "zoo", "We devour the bones of their broken habitat"))The sun sparkles in your eyes and you wish you hadn’t left your (cycling-link: "cap", "sunglasses", "sombrero") at home. Sweat dribbles from your armpits as your legs complain about the hill. You look across the road, is the other side less steep? Shaking your head, you tell yourself (cycling-link: "this is good exercise", "it won’t be for long", "this is the reason electric scooters are so popular"). You round the corner and a ring-ting of a bell catches your attention - a [[tram->tram stop]].
You take your shoes off and walk along the shore line, letting soft waves brush your toes. At the other end of the beach, just past the surf club, is the [[tower]].You pay for your soy milk. The old cat sees you off, nudging a thin path through the strip curtain. You crouch down to say goodbye. She eyes you like an oracle. Then she turns her gaze to the field across the street, where rabbits are bumping through the tall grass. She lets out a low prrrt. Is this a warning? A prophecy? You feel compelled to walk to the [[rabbit field]].
Pulling away from the hands grip you crawl out the door
Brushing dirt and walking tall as cement turns to brittle sand and waves lapthe shore
seagulls cry up above the gentle cloudy sky The [[Beach->beach]] was the next best place to be
You wonder about rabbits, their daily lives and thoughts. Then you remember, the next best place to see rabbits is the [[zoo]].
↶↷Today, on the tenth day of Spring, you leave the house.
It's been a difficult year up to now. Your inner world, as well as the world around you, feels chipped, loose, wobbly.
You decide there's only one thing for it: write a poem.