What the--

The shadows flit about, fast and formless on the walls of the room. Where they overlap they become darker, true to the nature of their stationary cousins.

"Kate, Lynne," --their mother thought she was so ingenious-- "what did we do?"

We?

Just looked at that book-thing, whatever fancy word you used for it.

"Grimoire," Josua whispers.

Certainly grim.

The shadows pay no notice, merely prancing upon whatever flat surfaces they fancy, a spectacle altogether phantasmal.

"Well, what do do now?" Still timid, still a quiver in his throat.

Four eyes roll in unison.

The book brought 'em here...

...the book should send 'em back.

Josua nods. It only makes sense, especially when your reasoning is that of a twelve-year-old. He turns back to the grimoire, keeping an eye over his shoulder should the shadows loose interest in their endless circling.

"Hey!" Jubilant. "It says something!"

Phantasmal?

Like, phantoms?

That, too, made sense to their twelve-year-old sense of reason. As soon as the word was thought though, it sunk into the page, black ink bleeding into the pages.

Recoiling with a start, Josua utters a quick yelp. Even the twins seem taken aback.

"Now what?" he utters, a waver again present in his voice.

Even as he asked, another word manifested itself on the page. The three stare at it, unsure of what to do next.

RATE THIS BRANCH!

Author guidance for This story

Prepare yourself for an exploration in vocabulary! And beside you in this exploration are Josua, Kate, and Lynne: the discoverers of a dusty old book filled with pages upon pages of nothing.

For the time being, at least.

The trio is in their house, having found the curious book in the attic, where you always find curious things. Where else would they be? But upon opening it, they release something strange into their otherwise almost-normal world. What is it? What will happen? And who will they meet before these questions are answered?

the Rules:Each branch is given a title of a peculiar or interesting word, with the ensuing branch making use of that word (in any form so long as it is still recognizable as the original word). However, the story must still continue, albeit in a somewhat spontaneous fashion.

Although no absolute ages are given, assume that all three are between nine and eleven years of age. They are children, and should behave, react, and speak in the manner that children often do.

p.s. I am completely aware of the fact that some branches are in a different tense than the first one. To avoid further confusion, please stick to the tense that the author previous to you used. That means you may be writing in the present tense or the past tense. I've yet to see a future tense story pop up. Let's hope one doesn't, 'aight?

Footnote: Yes, his name is Josua. No H. I fully intended this, it is not a glorified typo. And have fun with Kate and Lynne's names being said together.

updated Oct 22 '10 by Jackerbie