In the kitchen of the dimly lit cottage, you see (link-reveal: "pots and pans")[(show: ?pots)] hanging on hooks from the ceiling above an ancient wooden \
(if: ($seenBookshelf is true) and ($foundKey is false))[[[table->Look underneath the table]]]\
(else: )[table].
|pots)[
One of the pots looks big enough to be a hot tub... or a stew pot for several people!
]
(if: $foundKey is true)[Hansel stops crying and looks hopefully at you. “Is that the key for the [[door->Front Door]]?”]\
(else:)[Hansel is sitting in a corner, softly crying to himself and wishing he had never come through the [[door->Front Door]].]
Off in the living room, Gretel is looking at the [[books on the witch’s bookshelf->Bookshelf]] while a [[worryingly large fireplace->By the Fire]] glows red.(display: "Time remaining")
{
(live: 1s)[
(if: $seconds is 0)[
(if: $minutes is 0) [
(stop:)
(go-to: "The Witch Returns")
]
(else: )[
(set: $minutes to it - 1)
(set: $seconds to 59)
(replace: ?minLeft)[$minutes]
(replace: ?secLeft)[(if: $seconds < 10)[0]$seconds]
]
]
(else: )[
(set: $seconds to it - 1)
(replace: ?minLeft)[$minutes]
(replace: ?secLeft)[(if: $seconds < 10)[0]$seconds]
]
]
}{
(replace: ?Sidebar)[]
(unless: (passage: )'s tags contains "noTimer")[(display: "timer")]
}##You didn’t escape this time.
Would you like to [[try again|Introduction]]?##|minLeft>[$minutes]:|secLeft>[(if: $seconds < 10)[0]$seconds]{ <!-- Housekeeping -->
(replace: ?Sidebar)[]
(set: $previousPassage to "Introduction")
(set: $startMinutes to 5)
(set: $startSeconds to 0)
(set: $foundKey to false)
(set: $seenBookshelf to false)
(set: $gretelScreamed to false)
(set: $minutes to $startMinutes)
(set: $seconds to $startSeconds)
}
##Hansel and Gretel
an online escape room presented by <a href="http://oplib.org/" target="_blank">Ouachita Parish Public Library</a> ([[see credits->Credits]])
---
You were enjoying a quiet afternoon walking in the woods with your friends Hansel and Gretel. They’re real sweethearts, but (link-reveal: "their impulse control is...")[(link-reveal: " well...")[(display: "Audio: Background")
Long story short, you’re (link-reveal: "trapped.")[
The witch who trapped you has gone to (link-reveal: "chop some firewood.")[
And you’ve only got $startMinutes minute(unless: $startMinutes is 1)[s](if: $startSeconds > 0)[ and $startSeconds second(unless: $startSeconds is 1)[s]] before the witch comes back and (link-reveal: "eats you.")[
Are you ready to [[escape|By the Fire]]?]]]]]You unlock the door and [[escape to freedom|Won the game]] with your friends!(set: $wonMinutes to $minutes)
(set: $wonSeconds to $seconds)
##Congratulations!
You escaped from the witch’s cottage with $wonMinutes minute(unless: $wonMinutes is 1)[s](if: $wonSeconds > 0)[ and $wonSeconds second(unless: $wonSeconds is 1)[s]] remaining.
Would you like to [[play again|Introduction]]?You step back, considering the table from all angles.
There are several chairs, but the tabletop looks almost new except near one chair, the only place where the table has been set with a plate and utensils. The witch has been dining alone for some time, (link-reveal: "it seems.")[
Perhaps she’d have more friends if she didn’t keep eating everyone who visited her. //Just saying.//]
There’s (link-reveal: "something strange about the table’s legs.")[
As you crouch down to examine them, you realize that they look like human legs. Almost exactly like human legs.
You (link-reveal: "close your eyes and shudder.")[
When you open your eyes, you see (link-reveal: "something taped to the bottom of the table.")[(set: $foundKey to true) It’s a [[key|Kitchen]]!]]](link-reveal: "Softly glowing embers")[(show: ?embers)] in the broad hearth give off a gentle heat as they dwindle. |embers)[They’re enough to warm your hands by, but not enough to roast two curious children and their friend. No wonder the witch went out [[the door->Front Door]] to chop more firewood!]
(if: $foundKey is true)[Gretel stares at you in horror, wondering whether you really intend to [[throw the key into the fire->Waiting helplessly]]. If you did that, you’d never be able to escape!
Hansel gestures toward the [[door->Front Door]].]\
(else: )[You can hear Hansel softly whimpering to himself in the [[kitchen->Kitchen]] while Gretel rummages through books on the witch’s [[bookshelf->Bookshelf]] in search of clues.]
{
<!--
This only plays once, because I don't want to spend too much
time trying to figure out how to loop it but make it stop when
the player leaves.
-->
<script>
var audioFireplace = document.createElement('audio');
audioFireplace.src = '4211__dobroide__fire-crackling.mp3';
audioFireplace.loop = false;
audioFireplace.play()
</script>
}It’s locked. (if: $foundKey is true)[
But you’ve got the key, so you could [[unlock the door->Open the door]]...
[[Hansel->Kitchen]] and [[Gretel->Bookshelf]] watch you eagerly, full of hope.]
(else:)[
Hansel is curled up in a corner of the [[kitchen->Kitchen]] and Gretel is examining a [[bookshelf->Bookshelf]]. A fire burns in the [[fireplace->By the Fire]].]Gretel kneels in front of a small bookshelf, turning her head to one side as she reads the books’ titles.
(if: $foundKey is true)[She looks up. “Is that what I think it is?”]
(else:)[The (link-reveal: "top shelf")[(show: ?topshelf)] seems to be mostly cookbooks, and the (link-reveal: "bottom shelf")[(show: ?bottomshelf)] holds a variety of books on other topics. //Maybe one of these books will help me unlock the [[door->Front Door]],// you think to yourself.
|topshelf)[
On the top shelf you see:
<a href="https://ebook.yourcloudlibrary.com/library/trailblazer-document_id-c6vm89" target="_blank">//Cooking with Rice//</a>,
<a href="https://ebook.yourcloudlibrary.com/library/trailblazer-document_id-c6x4g9" target="_blank">//Cooking with Dried Beans//</a>, and
<a href="https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/11707307" target="_blank">//The Cooking with Kids Cookbook//</a>.
You hope that last one is about teaching kids how to cook.]
|bottomshelf)[
The bottom shelf includes a well-worn copy of \
//The Tough Guide to Fantasyland// by Diana Wynne Jones, and an unusual assortment of other books:
<a href="https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/12309211" target="_blank">//The Key//</a> by Peter Lerangis,
<a href="https://ebook.yourcloudlibrary.com/library/trailblazer-document_id-g1gz9" target="_blank">//Waiting//</a> by Jin Ha,
<a href="https://ebook.yourcloudlibrary.com/library/trailblazer-document_id-tu12dg9" target="_blank">//Under the Table//</a> by Stephanie Evanovich, and
<a href="https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/12468285" target="_blank">//Look!//</a> by Robie H. Harris. (set: $seenBookshelf to true)
]]
(if: $foundKey is true)[Hansel watches from the kitchen. He looks meaningfully at the [[fire->By the Fire]] and then at the [[door->Front Door]].]\
(else:)[You can hear Hansel crying in the corner of the [[kitchen->Kitchen]]. He clearly doesn’t want to end up in the [[fireplace->By the Fire]] any more than you do.]{<script>
var audioBackground = document.createElement('audio');
audioBackground.src = '154_Artists_Garret.mp3';
audioBackground.loop = false;
audioBackground.play();
</script>}Story written by Ben Ostrowsky.
Sound effects:
* <a href='http://tabletopaudio.com/?154' target='_blank'>“Artist’s Garret” by Tabletop Audio</a>
* <a href='https://freesound.org/people/dobroide/sounds/4211/' target='_blank'>“Fire Crackling” by dobroide</a>
[[OK->Introduction]]All three of you look up as you hear a key sliding into the lock. Sunlight momentarily blinds you when (link-reveal: "the door opens,")[ revealing the backlit silhouette of (link-reveal: "a hideous, hungry witch.")[
She cackles, and the sound is the (if: $gretelScreamed is true)[second-]most blood-chilling thing you have ever (link-reveal: "heard.")[
[[It is also one of the last things you will ever hear.->Lost the game]]
]]]{<script>
audioFireplace.play();
</script>}
Gretel gasps. “That was our only chance to escape!”
Hansel’s hope turns to (link-reveal: "blind rage.")[ He charges at you from the kitchen, knocking you both to the floor. He screams in your face. “What were you thinking?” He collapses on top of you, (link-reveal: "openly weeping.")[ Through snot-clogged gasps he says, “We’re going to die now. And it’s all your fault.”
Gretel shakes her head in disbelief, muttering to herself. And then she gets (link-reveal: "an idea.")[
Gretel walks up to the (link-reveal: "fireplace,")[ bravely plunging (link-reveal: "her hand")[ into the embers.
(link-reveal: "She screams.")[
(set: $gretelScreamed to true)
She jerks her hand back, but it is (link-reveal: "too late.")[
As she clutches her charred limb, her face goes pale with shock.]]]]]]]
There is nothing to do now but [[wait for the witch to return->The Witch Returns]].