Sunny Hill

Here atop Sunny Hill, a great beech tree grows. From the top of the tree you can see old Mr. Langosy's farm to the west and your parents' farm to the east. But as you lie on your back under the copper-colored leaves, you are oblivious to everything but the warm lazy breeze and a faint shout in the distance.

>LISTEN TO SHOUT
You can hear your mother calling you, and your brothers, sisters and father to lunch.

>GO EAST
You'll have to stand up first.

>STAND UP
Reluctantly, you get to your feet.
A platypus crawls down out of the beech tree and waddles hurriedly north.

>FOLLOW THE PLATYPUS
Pond Shore

You're standing by the southern side of Berube Pond. You can ascend Sunny Hill to the south, go to old Mr. Langosy's raspberry patch to the west or follow a path to your family's farmhouse to the east.
The platypus crawls into a semi-hidden pit and disappears.

>LOOK IN PIT
It's as dark as a new-moon night in the pit. You can see only a few feet down, but not the bottom of the pit.

>INVENTORY
You are empty-handed.

>JUMP INTO THE PIT
You jump feet-first into the pit, and fall a few feet...
...and fall some more...
...and some more...
...and some more...
and finally land with a slight "thud."

Pit Bottom

You're standing in a small round room. A long dark passage above you disappears into black nothingness. In a corner of the room is a square glass-topped table, and in the south wall is a tiny door, not more than 12 inches tall.

>OPEN THE DOOR
The door is locked.

>PUSH THE DOOR
The door won't budge.

>LOOK AT THE TABLE
The table is about 3 feet tall, with spindly wooden legs and a clear glass top. On the table is a white mushroom with a label attached.

>READ THE LABEL
The label says "Eat me."

>SMELL THE MUSHROOM
It smells just like a white mushroom.

>EAT THE MUSHROOM
[taking the white mushroom first]

Despite warnings from ... from someone (your sister? your mother?) about eating unfamiliar fungi, you take a tentative bite from the mushroom. The you notice that the table is growing larger and larger still. The white mushroom you're carrying gets heavier and heavier, and you notice that it too is growing. The door in the south wall grows in height, and the room itself seems to expand in every direction. Suddenly, everything stops growing (or perhaps you stop shrinking). You notice that the door (which is now taller than you) has a keyhole.

>LOOK THROUGH THE KETHOLE
[I don't know the word "kethole."]

>OOPS KEYHOLE
Through the keyhole, you can see a lovely garden on the other side of the door. Platypuses cavort happily on the lawns and in the pools.

>KNOCK ON THE DOOR
Still peering through the keyhole, you see a smiling platypus wearing a party hat waddle over to the door. "Hello," it says cheerfully.

>PLATYPUS, OPEN THE DOOR
"The key is on the table." The platypus waddles away from the door.

>LOOK AT THE TABLE
The table looms over you like Everest over Hillary. Way overhead, you see a key through the glass, which you're sure wasn't there before.

>TAKE THE KEY
The key is far out of reach.

>CLIMB THE TABLE
Don't let the Sir Hillary analogy get to your head. The legs of the table are too smooth and slippery.

>LOOK AROUND

Pit Bottom

You're standing in a small round room. A long dark passage above you disappears into black nothingness. In a corner of the room is a square glass-topped table, which looms over you like Goliath over David. Way overhead, you see a key through the glass. In the south wall is a closed door. In the shadows of another corner is a black mushroom.

>TAKE THE BLACK MUSHROOM THEN EAT IT
Taken.

You take a timorous taste of the black mushroom. Then you notice that the table is growing smaller, and smaller still. The mushrooms you're carrying get lighter and lighter, and you notice that they too are shrinking. The door in the south wall gets tinier and tinier, and the room itself seems to contract in every direction. Suddenly, everything stops shrinking (or perhaps you stop growing).

>TAKE THE KEY
Taken.

>EAT THE MUSHROOM
[Which mushroom do you mean, the white mushroom or the black mushroom?]

>WHITE
You take a confident chomp from the white mushroom. As expected, the table grows larger, the mushrooms get heavier, the door in the south wall grows, and the room itself expands in every direction. Eventually, everything stops growing (or perhaps you stop shrinking).

>UNLOCK THE DOOR WITH THE KEY THEN OPEN THE DOOR
Okay, the door is now unlocked.
You swing open the door.

>GO IN
Garden

As you enter the garden, platypuses start to file out the door, talking excitedly to each other. "Great party! Too bad you missed it!" one platypus mentions to you. The last platypus turns off a light and closes the door behind him, leaving you in the dark.