Experimental Storytelling
For this to work, you have to make a promise with me and keep it. I'll tell you the rules first, but only continue this video is you promise to uphold them, understand? Here we go. As you learn more about this story, there will be moments where you have to make a decision. A prompt will appear with two options asking you what you want to do. One option will ask you to raise a finger on your left hand. The other, on your right. If at any point in this story, you put up all 5 fingers on either hand, you have to stop the video. If you can keep that promise, let's continue...
You sit down on a bench and take a sip of your coffee, there were many benches to chose from but this one had the best vantage point. You could see the students enter and exit from the three campus buildings around you. Their pathways converged just feet away from you, giving you a clear view of the dance that they all do to avoid knocking each other over. Every one very fixated on their own to do list and marched on like ants. You didn't have class for another hour so you got comfortable, singing the ants go marching one by one under my breath."
"You finish your coffee and consider leaving your bench to throw it out in the garbage bin across from you. This would involve crossing through the dense foot traffic and potentially losing you seat if you got up."
"Do you get up? Left hand yes, right hand no"
"You briefly consider shooting the cup into the bin for a three-pointer, and you gesture the motion. This motion alarms the ants and they briefly skipped a beat in their movement and glance at you in their peripherals. You try to hide the motion by standing up from the seat. At this point you're committed, you make my way through foot traffic to toss out the cup. On the way you bump into a girl carrying books, and in a classic trope, knock a book out of her hand. She apologizes and keeps walking, seemingly faster. She didn't seem to notice the fallen book. You were caught off guard by her apology and watched her walk away. She was strangely beautiful."
"Do you chase the girl or pick up the book? Left hand girl, right hand book."
"You start to chase after the girl, but then remember the book she dropped. Or rather, that you knocked down. This book could be a good ice breaker. You pick up the book and notice it's a generic notebook, surely to take notes for some class. You don't see a title or name on the cover to identify her."
"Do you open the book or chase after her? Left hand book, right hand chase."
"You start to open the book, it's a standard lined notebook, and on the center of the first page were two words written in deep black ink. 'I'm sorry." You barely register it and start to turn to the next page. Again blank except for two words in the center, 'don't blink'. 'What are you doing!? You hear an infuriated voice scold you. You look up to see the girl, clearly distraught. She grabbed the book from your hand. Did you read this? She yelled. The ants barely noticed the two of you. You were caught off guard by this situation. You start to apologize, "I'm sorry." you say. She looked terrified as you said those words. "You.. you.. you read it? Didn't you? Blink. Blink right now. Please, blink right now."
"Do you blink? Left for yes, right for no."
"You can feel your eyes start to water. You are suddenly hyper aware of your body's natural need to blink. You remembered the second page of the book, but what do you do with that information? There is some unusual woman yelling at you, her hair looks to be gently floating. 'No, you tell her. I'm not going to blink.' You reply in a flirtatious manner thinking you've got an opportunity here. 'What?' She shoves you, dropping the rest of her books, including the notebook. 'Blink now, blink right the fuck now.' That was unexpected, this does not pass the vibe check. You can feel this confrontation going no where good. Where you had hoped to have a nice conversation, this has already reached hostile territory. All the while you're thinking this, you are still hyper focused on not blinking. You need to blink."
"Do you blink or do you grabbed the dropped notebook and run? Left for blink, right for run"
"You dodge around her and head for the book. As you grab it, you feel her hand on your wrist. 'I'm sorry,' she says. 'Most people would have blinked by now.' You don't know what to make of this change of tone. You pull her hand away, keep hold of the book and run. Dodging through the colony of ants and making your way into the furthest building. Why did you even pick up the book, what compelled you to do so? You could have just walked away from that situation, but you stole that girls book and ran. She is bound to chase you."
"Do you follow the feeling that compelled you or do you ditch the book and run? Left for feeling, right for ditch."
You quickly flip through the pages to get to page 3, and there again in the center of the page are two words. You squint to make sure you're reading it right. 'Last words.' it reads. You feel frozen, motionless, entrapped by the words on the page. 'What the hell is this, what do I do with this?' you think to yourself. You start to turn to the next page but she catches up to me. 'Wait,' she exclaims while trying to catch her breathe. 'Wait, don't say anything. Please don't say anything, let me explain first.' At this point you are passed bothered. You are really getting annoyed and are ready to tell this woman to fuck off."
"Do you listen to her explanation, or do you yell at her? Left for listen, right for yell."
"You don't even get a chance to find the words. She immediately starts talking, 'If you read the next page, I won't be able to help you. Our time together will come to an end, it will all just stop. Just fight it, for just a little longer. Please I need you to listen very carefully now. Do not blink, do not say a single word. Just nod yes and no to what I say, okay? Nod yes.'"
"Do you read the next page or nod yes? Left for read, right for nodding yes"
"The book is open to the 4th page, all you would need to do is glance down and read. Your eyes are on fire, you don't even know why you're committing to keeping them open, why you are not speaking. 'What is this god forsaken situation I'm in? Someone help me.', you think to yourself. 'This is madness right? Fuck this, I'm going to blink. I'm going to blink and tell this girl to fuck off. No, I can't. I'm too scared. Should I just throw the book away and run? But she said she can help me. Help me with what? Fucking blinking and talking? I can do that on my own, I can do that right now. What did she say? She can help me? Just nod yes, don't read the book and nod yes.' You look at her, eyes on fire and nod yes. And as you nod, your eyes make contact with the only thing on page 4 of the open book. The two words. "The End." Without thinking, with all that's going on in your head, you don't even realize you said the words until it's too late. With barely a murmur, you let out the words, "The End." Tears start to roll down your face. Your eyes reach their limit and blink. You realize what you just said and did and look up at her. She has the biggest, dirtiest grin on her face. She slowly moves towards you, cackling, twitching, unblinking. You feel you have moments left before the end, you fear response is swinging like a pendulum. Her eyes grow wider and your world grows darker. You can't move, you can't speak, you see your end in her eyes. Her left eye reveals absolute surrender where you can experience the world but your body is forever under her control. Her right eye reveals absolute isolation as anyone you interact with becomes an empty puppet under your control."
"Do you focus on her left eye or right eye? Left or right."
"'So pitifully predictable.' She says as you feel progressively fainter. Those are the last words you hear before reaching absolute darkness.
The End.
I accidently wrote this. I didn’t consciously add the layers in it that my wife pointed out to me. For example, it’s written in a way where you could have avoided danger and just left the situation, but your greed, curiosity or otherwise propelled you into a damned existence.