{"id":1849,"date":"2021-05-25T08:00:17","date_gmt":"2021-05-25T06:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/?p=1849"},"modified":"2021-05-21T11:53:32","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T09:53:32","slug":"before-dark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.unil.ch\/musemagazine\/2021\/05\/before-dark\/","title":{"rendered":"Before Dark"},"content":{"rendered":"

Image<\/strong>: “Worm’s Eye View of Green Trees” \u00a9 Felix Mittermeier on Pexel<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

Author<\/strong>: Emilie Badoux<\/p>\n

About the story<\/h2>\n

This is a story where you make the choices. In order to win, you have to get out of the woods before dark.
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This story was written for the MUSE Challenge 2021. The underlined words are those which were part of the challenge.<\/p>\n

Start Here<\/h2>\n

First, you hear sounds \u2014 birdsong, and the faint rustle of the wind in leaves. Second, a sweet, fresh smell tickles your nose. Third, you feel the warm, pleasant sensation of the sun on your face. Then you open your eyes, and that’s when the thoughts come in. What the<\/em>\u2026?<\/em> You sit up fast, too fast, and now your whole body \u2014 without waking up from its stiff, sluggish state \u2014 remembers pain; sharp stabs through your head, quiet aches in your back, but none of it is surprising after sleeping on the ground in a \u2014 you look around \u2014 meadow<\/u>? In any case, none of it is more intense than the confusion, and the feeling that something very, very strange is going on. Lush and green grass, still wet with dew, fills a modest area, bigger than a garden, smaller than a field, before shrubs mark the border with the forest of tall trees that surround it. You are situated on a slight slope: on one side the forest goes up, and on the other, down. Sun-kissed<\/u> wildflowers are strewn around the meadow \u2014 their scent was what you smelled before, still entranced by sleep. Despite the discomfort, you almost want to stay here now that you’re fully awake and lucid. Something is reassuring, charming, almost mesmerising about the place\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026Which rekindles the eerie feeling from before: this is too <\/em>strange \u2014 and how did you get here anyways?<\/em> You have the sudden certainty that if you stay one moment longer, you might never leave. You get up slowly, careful not to provoke your (suspicious) headache, and try to find a path into the forest. And sure enough, you see two paths, one going up, one going down. Both are dirt tracks disappearing among the trees; they look identical, as if one was the continuation of the other, going in and out of the strange stretch of grass. There is no way for you to know which would be the best way for you to get out of here quickly, but you have to decide.<\/p>\n

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Which path will you take?<\/em><\/p>\n