openthebox/content/adventures/sentimental/intro.lor

// Sentimental Adventure - Open The Box
// Theme: A box of memories, love, and bittersweet nostalgia

character chenda
  name: Chenda
  role: Love Interest

character farah
  name: Farah
  role: Best Friend

state
  memories: 0
  heartLevel: 50
  chendaClose: false
  acceptedPast: false

beat Intro
  Rain taps against the attic window. You're surrounded by dust and the quiet ghosts of years gone by. #intro-rain
  In the corner, half-hidden under a moth-eaten blanket, you find it: a box. #intro-find
  It's not special-looking. Brown cardboard. A little crushed on one side. Held together with tape that's given up on being sticky. #intro-box
  But you recognize the handwriting on the side. It says "Us." #intro-us
  farah: Hey, I thought I'd find you up here. What's that? #farah-find
  farah: Oh. That box. I remember that box. #farah-remember

  choice
    Open the box #opt-open
      -> OpenMemoryBox
    Ask Farah what she remembers #opt-ask-farah
      -> FarahRemembers
    Put it back -- some boxes should stay closed #opt-putback
      -> PutItBack

beat FarahRemembers
  farah: That's the box from the summer Chenda moved in next door. #farah-summer
  farah: You two used to pass notes in it. Back and forth over the fence. #farah-notes
  farah: You called it "Box Mail." You were twelve. It was adorable and deeply uncool. #farah-boxmail
  farah: Chenda still has the other box. The one you sent your notes IN. #farah-otherbox
  heartLevel += 10
  -> OpenMemoryBox

beat PutItBack
  You push the box back under the blanket. #putback-push
  farah: You sure? #farah-sure
  A moment passes. The rain gets louder. #putback-rain
  farah: You know, I read somewhere that unopened boxes are just feelings with a lid on them. #farah-feelings
  farah: I didn't read that anywhere. I just made it up. But it sounded wise, right? #farah-wise
  You look at the box again. Maybe some feelings deserve to be unlidded. #putback-unlid
  -> OpenMemoryBox

beat OpenMemoryBox
  You open the box carefully. The flaps resist, then give way with a soft sigh. #open-careful
  Inside: a mess of trinkets, notes, and small objects that meant everything once. #open-inside
  memories += 1
  farah: Oh wow. It's all still here. #farah-wow

  choice
    Pick up the photograph on top #opt-photo
      -> MemoryPhoto
    Read the folded note #opt-note
      -> MemoryNote
    Look at the small wooden figurine #opt-figurine
      -> MemoryFigurine

beat MemoryPhoto
  It's a polaroid. Slightly faded. Two teenagers standing in front of a moving truck. #photo-polaroid
  One is you. The other is Chenda, holding up a cardboard box and grinning like it's a trophy. #photo-chenda
  The day Chenda moved in. The day everything started. #photo-day
  farah: You two became friends because Chenda's parents needed help carrying boxes. #farah-carrying
  farah: Literally. Your entire relationship started because of cardboard boxes. #farah-cardboard
  farah: If that's not fate, I don't know what is. #farah-fate
  heartLevel += 15
  memories += 1
  -> MemoryNote

beat MemoryNote
  You unfold the note. The paper is soft from years of being folded and unfolded. #note-unfold
  It reads, in Chenda's handwriting: "Thanks for helping with the boxes yesterday. You're weird, but the good kind of weird. Box Mail is the best invention ever. - C" #note-reads
  heartLevel += 20
  farah: The "good kind of weird." That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said about you. #farah-weird
  farah: And she wasn't wrong. About either part. #farah-notWrong
  memories += 1

  choice
    Keep reading through the box #opt-keep-reading
      -> MemoryFigurine
    Call Chenda #opt-call
      chendaClose = true
      -> CallChenda

beat MemoryFigurine
  At the bottom of the box: a small wooden figurine. A box. Carved from a popsicle stick. #figurine-bottom
  You remember making it in shop class. You gave it to Chenda as a joke. #figurine-joke
  "A box for someone who changed my life with a box." You'd written it on a gift tag. #figurine-tag
  farah: You were so smooth. Like sandpaper, but smoother. #farah-smooth
  farah: I think Chenda kept the gift tag too. I saw it on the fridge last week. #farah-fridge
  heartLevel += 20
  memories += 1

  choice
    Call Chenda now #opt-call-now
      chendaClose = true
      -> CallChenda
    Sit with the memories a while longer #opt-sit
      -> SitWithMemories

beat SitWithMemories
  You sit on the attic floor, the box in your lap, rain on the window. #sit-floor
  farah: You know what the best thing about boxes is? #farah-best
  farah: They keep things safe. Even when you forget about them. Even when years pass. #farah-safe
  farah: The stuff inside doesn't change. It just waits for you to come back. #farah-waits
  heartLevel += 10
  You realize she's not just talking about boxes. #sit-realize
  -> CallChenda

beat CallChenda
  You pick up your phone. Chenda's number is still there. Of course it is. #call-phone
  It rings three times. Then: #call-rings
  chenda: Hello? Oh! Hey! I was just... you're not going to believe this. #chenda-hello
  chenda: I'm in MY attic. Looking at MY box. The one with your notes in it. #chenda-attic
  heartLevel += 20
  farah: I'm going to go make tea and pretend this isn't making me emotional. #farah-tea

  choice
    Tell Chenda you found the box too #opt-tell
      -> SharedMoment
    Ask if Chenda still has the wooden figurine #opt-figurine-ask
      -> AskFigurine
    Invite Chenda over #opt-invite
      chendaClose = true
      -> InviteOver

beat AskFigurine
  chenda: The little wooden box you made? Of course I still have it. #chenda-figurine
  chenda: It's on my desk. Right next to my computer. I see it every day. #chenda-desk
  chenda: I never told you that. That seems like the kind of thing I should have told you. #chenda-shouldve
  heartLevel += 15
  -> SharedMoment

beat InviteOver
  chenda: I'll be there in twenty minutes. Keep the box open. I want to see everything. #chenda-coming
  chenda: And don't eat the candy at the bottom. I know there's candy. Old candy, but still. #chenda-candy
  farah: There IS candy at the bottom. It's been there for ten years. I would not eat it. #farah-candy
  heartLevel += 10
  -> SharedMoment

beat SharedMoment
  chenda: You know, I was thinking about the day we met. #chenda-thinking
  chenda: My parents were yelling about which box went where. I was miserable. New town, no friends. #chenda-miserable
  chenda: And then you showed up. This random kid, offering to carry boxes. #chenda-random
  chenda: You dropped the first one. It had all my books in it. They went everywhere. #chenda-dropped
  chenda: And you looked so mortified that I started laughing. And then you laughed. #chenda-laughed
  chenda: And I thought: okay. Maybe this place won't be so bad. #chenda-okay
  heartLevel += 25
  memories += 1

  choice
    Say "I still can't carry boxes properly" #opt-still-cant
      -> StillCant
    Say "That was the best box I ever dropped" #opt-best-drop
      -> BestDrop

beat StillCant
  chenda: I know. I've seen you try. It's a miracle you function as an adult. #chenda-function
  chenda: But you always show up. Even when you'll definitely drop the box. #chenda-showup
  chenda: That's the thing about you. You show up. #chenda-always
  acceptedPast = true
  -> Ending

beat BestDrop
  chenda: Only you would romanticize dropping someone's belongings on the ground. #chenda-romanticize
  chenda: But yeah. It was a pretty good drop. A+ dropping. #chenda-aplus
  chenda: Every time I see a cardboard box now, I think of you. Which is inconvenient. #chenda-inconvenient
  chenda: Boxes are EVERYWHERE. I can't go to the post office without getting nostalgic. #chenda-postoffice
  acceptedPast = true
  -> Ending

beat Ending
  The rain slows to a drizzle. The attic feels warmer than it did an hour ago. #ending-rain
  You look at the box. Just a box. Cardboard, tape, scribbled handwriting. #ending-look
  But it held everything that mattered. It kept it safe while you were busy forgetting. #ending-held

  if chendaClose
    chenda: Hey. Let's not wait another ten years before we open a box together. #chenda-together
    chenda: Deal? #chenda-deal
    heartLevel += 20

  farah: You two are disgustingly sweet. I mean that as a compliment. Mostly. #farah-sweet
  farah: Memories found today: $memories. Heart level: $heartLevel. Tissues used by Farah: she's not saying. #farah-final

  if acceptedPast
    You close the box gently. Not to seal it away again, but because the memories are safe now. #ending-close
    They're not just in the box anymore. They're back where they belong. #ending-belong

  farah: For what it's worth, I'm glad you opened it. Some boxes really are worth opening. #farah-worth
  farah: Even the scary ones. Especially the scary ones. #farah-especially
  -> .