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It's night. You'r
Chatterbox: Pudding's Place
It's night. You'r
It's night. You're sitting in your bed, staring out the window, searching for something lost. But you can't remember what it is, or was. All you know is that it's out there...it's important...and it was once yours.
Perhaps you never used it, perhaps you did--once, maybe twice. Or more. But for some strange reason, you can't remember if you did or didn't. Or what effect it had on you. Or...where it is now.
As you awoke from a particularly bland and boring dream, the memory that you were missing this...thing slid into your head. As you sat in a haze between asleep and awake, you stared outside, scouring the landscape that, for one fleeting moment, was no longer the familiar world you saw every day.
So here you are, staring outside, searching.
And then you finish waking up.
And here you are, trying to remember what you were just doing.
Hm, you think, smacking your dry lips. The covers rustle as you reach for your water glass, which sits by your lamp on your nightstand like it does every night. That's really wierd...I can't remember my dream. It seemed important--almost real. Your hand meets cold glass and you close your fingers around it. You bring it to your lips for a satisfying sip, but you realize that it's empty.
"Darn," you whisper. You'll have to get out of bed to fill it up--but it's really cold, and you don't have socks on.
Eh, it's no big deal. You'll fill it up.
Throwing the covers to the side, you haul yourself out of bed. With every footstep towards the kitchen all memory of strange dreams and searches leaves you, and by the time you return to your comfy nest of blankets with your full cup of water, the night seems almost normal. That is, until you glance outside the window.
Something moves across the front of the moon, which is full and shines right through the middle of your window, lighting up your comforter. What could it have been? It seemed familiar...And perhaps it's the fact that you're still half asleep, half awake that you can sense it, but a powerful force beats from it. Calling you. Presenting opportunities that you absolutely cannot miss.
Without any hesitation you get back out of bed, but before you can even leave your bedroom you notice a puddle of water near your nightstand.
So that's where all my water went, you realize. I must've knocked it over. Upon closer inspection you realize that there's writing on the carpet, glowing faintly yellow from under the patch of wetness.
The writing is so interesting you don't even realize how strange it is that the puddle isn't soaking into the carpet, or wonder how the words got there. In fact, the words don't even seem scary to you, despite their suspicious nature.
Hello, person! You are one of the lucky few CBers to be chosen to go on a nice, relaxing, beautiful vacation over Lake Lelillo! (Lay-LIH-loh) If you do indeed come, and we absolutely hope you do decide to, you will be given a free getaway from work, school, and empty water glasses! Here at Lake Lelillo, you will have all-day access to the lake itself, the fun attractions, the ice cream stands, the hot dog stands, the hamburger stands, the steak stands, the spagghetti stands, and any other stand marked with a silver star. (Which is all of them, so please don't forget!) Your rooms will be huge and most of them will even overlook the lake! They will of course be inside our one and only Luxury Lake House, which you will live in until your stay comes to a close. Remember this is all completely free, free free! Please pack your things, bring an AE and/or CAPTCHA if you'd like, and wait with them by the nearest stream at sunrise tomorrow morning. As we always say: All inlets lead to Lelillo!
~Your Soon-to-be Chaperones,
Cassy and Lily of Lake Lelillo
How you read all that small print was beyond you. Will you go? It certainly seems relaxing enough. The choice is yours to make.
-------------------------
I'll tell you all when the spots are closed, so join while you still can!
Please note that this is my second ski lodge, and it's kind of linked to my first. In a sense, it's the next part. I don't know if I should call it a part two, or what, but some things might reference the first ski lodge. Don't worry--I'm not going to make things super confusing. I'll explain things as I go--and I really need new CBers to join in. But I also need some CBers from my previous ski lodge to come. ('Course, they don't have to join if they don't want to; I'll understand.)
Here's another clue (if you didn't catch the others...) for the CBers who were in my first ski lodge, or read it, and wanted to be in this one:
What do you get when you cross a scorpion and a sloth?
Hehe, my alias isn't going to last the day. :D
submitted by Your Chaperones, Cassy and Lily
(January 1, 2017 - 11:51 am)
(January 1, 2017 - 11:51 am)
(April 18, 2018 - 1:05 pm)
You're very welcome!! I can't wait to read even more-that last post was very suspenseful! I enjoy reading all of your posts!
TOP TOP TOP! :)
(April 18, 2018 - 6:51 pm)
SOOO GOOD!!!!!
RIP Ice Wolf and Owlgirl
KEEP WRITING!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(April 19, 2018 - 4:44 pm)
TOP!
(April 27, 2018 - 8:24 am)
Thanks, Jwyn and Joan! :)
(April 27, 2018 - 3:46 pm)
Day Ten - Next Part
------
It had been a rough morning for everyone. No water to drink (except for what had been in CBers’ water bottles), an extremely confusing riddle, and two deaths had really added up. All that the CBers wanted to do was lounge around the house for the rest of the day, trying to get their brains working again.
Unfortunately, they could not do that, because they had to help Pierre down in the utilities hallway. After the bomb had exploded, the pipes had all been bent up and broken. The CBers needed to clear away rubble and set up support beams so the rest of the mansion wouldn’t collapse.
It was long past lunchtime, and the CBers were parched, starving, and grumpy. But the hallway was clean, and Pierre had miraculously fixed the waterworks with just a saw, a few extra pipes, and some cans of gunk.
“Betcha didn’t know I was such a handyman,” Pierre commented proudly, stepping back to admire his work.
Moonfrost tried the sink upstairs. She nearly had a heart attack when nothing came out, but Pierre sheepishly realized he’d forgotten to actually turn the valve back on. After he had done so, cool water poured out of the tap and into the sink--music to the CBers’ ears (and mouths).
After they had all gulped plenty of water and downed their lunches, the CBers went out to have funerals for Owlgirl and Ice Wolf.
It was around four in the afternoon when the CBers were finally free to relax. Lily and Pierre sent them upstairs to rest and told them there’d be a surprise waiting when they came back down.
The CBers relaxed upstairs for a while. Some of them took naps while others watched television. Many restless CBers were longing for the game room to still be intact, but alas, they were forced to be content with Winter Lilac’s board games. Honestly, it wasn’t too bad--especially since they discovered the secret of Winter Lilac’s iPad.
While at the farm, Dumbledore had enchanted it to play any game in existence--even those only found in books. It could also play any book as a movie, and the characters’ appearances and voices were tailored specifically to look exactly how the viewer imagined them.
“Why didn’t you tell us about this sooner?!” Poetic Panda had exclaimed, clutching the iPad in awe.
“Ah, it really didn’t seem important until now…” defended Winter Lilac. “Anyway, here’s how you use it. Also, I’m warning you, it’s extremely addictive.”
Joan watched with interest, peering over the shoulders of Ariel, Puck, Poetic Panda, Hotairballoon, and Nighthawk. Winter Lilac was demonstrating the proper way to navigate the enormous list of apps--you could scroll down, you could use the search bar, or you could let the app sense what game you were in the mood for and allow it to give you some suggestions.
“This is crazy,” Nighthawk said, shaking her head. “You need to take me to that farm.”
Suddenly, Joan felt a buzzing sensation on her hip. She jumped in surprise--it was her turn to watch the walkie talkie, but she hadn’t actually expected it to do anything! She glanced down quickly--and sure enough, the walkie talkie was vibrating madly on the side of her jeans. Stepping away from the group, Joan unclipped it and held it closer to her ear. Cassy’s choppy voice was carrying through the speakers, and Joan listened, stunned.
“--so…,” there was a pause, “anyway, I wanted to apologize for everything I did. We can meet at the old employee camp and talk there. I can tell you what’s been going on, and…”
Cassy kept talking, and gradually, the other CBers noticed Joan in the center of the room, staring open-mouthed at the walkie talkie as Cassy jabbered away. The quiet hubbub of the room faded, and the CBers, stopping their activities, listened to the remainder of Cassy’s message.
“So, like I said, we can meet at the old employee cabin area. I think, er, Moonfrost will know where to go. Anyway, yeah, we’ll talk there.” There was a little more static, a nervous sigh, some fumbling noises, and finally, a click as Cassy’s voice was cut off.
The CBers were silent for a second.
Hotairballoon was the one to break that silence. “Well. We all know it's a trap.”
Moonfrost let some air out through her nose, relieved that nobody had asked why she (rather than Puck) would be the one to know where to go.
Panda turned to him. “Now, we don’t know that for sure,” she argued.
“Well we can’t just say it’s not a trap and go traipsing over there believing everything Cassy just said. Guys, we can’t risk it.”
“I thought you wanted to catch Cassy,” Puck argued. “And this is the perfect opportunity.”
“Well, Hotairballoon might be right,” Nighthawk began, hesitant. “Cassy knows we’re looking for her. She really might be setting a trap for us.”
An uncomfortable twisting feeling began curling its way through the insides of the Chatterboxers as they discussed Cassy’s message. Anxiety, worry, and fear were combined into this one compounded emotion that the CBers had now learned to associate with the constant mistrust they experienced. If they couldn’t believe Cassy now, could they ever really trust her ever again? Could they even trust each other at this point? What was real? What was fake? Which one of them was the one who was perpetually lying, deceiving...causing all of this?!
It was too much. The message had come out of the blue, scaring Joan out of her wits and astonishing the others. Everyone was brain-dead from this morning, and they couldn’t decide what to do. Not to mention they didn’t really want to decide what to do. Go find Cassy? What would that entail? Or shoudl they stay here and take naps? Maybe go tomorrow? Reply to Cassy? Tell Lily? Forget about the whole matter? All go? None go?
...What would you do?
---
Well well well, things have certainly taken an interesting turn! Did this story really just ask what you would do?
Hm...I wonder what would happen if you all answered it...
(April 27, 2018 - 3:12 pm)
Ooooooo, the plot thickens!
I would probably have part of the group go, while the rest scout out and provide backup if necessary.
Cant wait to see what happens!
(April 27, 2018 - 7:12 pm)
This is really good Mice! I think I would send Moonlight and a few others to the meeting, and have half of the remaining CBers stay at the house and half hide nearby as backup. And Puck would fly around overhead as lookout.
(April 29, 2018 - 3:55 am)
Hey! I'm here, I'm alive, and I'm so so sorry for not keeping up to speed with this. Man, I just spent about 3 hours binge-reading (is that a thing?) this whole story over again from part one just to catch up. First, you're an absolutely fantastic writer, and second I'm glad that story me knows how to solve puzzles and be S-M-R-T because real life me is still rather confused.
But in our current situation I'd say it probably is a trap, and while I really would like to just take a long nap for a while, I think we should consult Lily before deciding to do or not do anything.
Also, I hate to say this because of how nice and helpful and martyr-like she was in the last ski lodge, but something has been bothering me about Poetic Panda this time around, and I can't quite place what it is. Also also, borderline-suicidal Jayfeather makes me sad. We should try and help him and also also also figure out why he's stopped caring about the fact that we literally don't have running water and all his friends are dying around him.
Maybe I will post again tomorrow morning when I'm actually coherent. Bye for now, and again thanks for continuing this for longer than a year (!!!) and making it such a fun and heart-pounding read. Toodles!
(April 29, 2018 - 8:25 pm)
You are such an amazing writer, Micearenice!
(April 29, 2018 - 10:06 am)
@Hotairballoon - You're alive!!! Yaaaaaaayyy!!! XD
Aw, thank you, HAB! And thank you so much for coming back and rereading the whole story!!! It means so much to me that you'd spend three hours on something I wrote. :)
And oh my goodness, speaking of me continuing this for over a year...has it really been a year since I wrote the murder in the dark scene?! Did you know I hid a reference in that part from your last CBversary thread? (Happy 4th CBversary, by the way! :)
@Everybody else - I'm going to begin on the next part soon, so today's your last chance to suggest what you would do!
(May 1, 2018 - 2:48 pm)
What would I do?
Hmm... I agree that half of us should stay, and half should go. We can't sleep yet-because no one is safe until we find who the murderer is.
Puck should be a lookout...
Puck: Hey!
Me: You'll be fine. Don't you like adventure?
Puck: *Pouts* Fine. But it's all up to what Micearenice is wanting to do with her story.
Me: True. Anyways, I think we should continue to keep an eye on Lily, just in case. Don't tell her yet, until we know more information. Half of us should go, and half should stay to watch Lily. No one should go alone, so someone also should help Puck with lookout, just in case. That's what I think.
(May 1, 2018 - 5:33 pm)
So, here's a little something I put together that will bring some important clues to light, and will also propose some questions, to keep this mystery on track.
-There has been one part in this ski lodge where the identity of the murderer can be directly figured out. Did you catch it?
-The murderer gives hints about itself sometimes, when you're reading from its point of view.
-This ski lodge has referenced three other ski lodges so far.
And now, some thought-provoking questions:
-Why does everything seem to happen in the Rose sitting room?
-Any more thoughts on the Mystery?
-Where is Lily and Cassy's bedroom? Is this even important to know?
-What do you think the murderer is trying to accomplish?
-Why is Cassy working with the murderer?
-After reading this much of the story, what new insights can you glean from its initial introduction?
-Which other ski lodges has this one referenced so far?
-There are at least five Chatterboxers/AEs who you know cannot be the murderer. Who are they? And who's left on the suspect list?
-As for the random 'words' that the CBers have been seeing scattered around Lake Lelillo...What are they? What do they mean? Icy even noticed her name in one of the sequences:
DTHEA...--__(table)//SI\|/+WREN..SD-)(DR--CL/A--ICY--IW--AL/MS/SM--PS--MN--CC--CtD--etc)
So what else could be hiding in these strange "computer codes"?
If there's ever a specific part of the ski lodge you want to reread, but you don't know which page to find it on, I can get the link for you. All you have to do is ask! (And would you guys like another list of who's still alive?)
(May 3, 2018 - 7:41 am)
Ok, I'm not on this. But I have been stalking it for some time, trying to educate myself on ski lodges. I told myself I wouldn't comment, but I can't help it. Also, @Micearenice, you are a great writer!
Okay-- the important thing in the first post was maybe memories of other ski lodges. At one point the murderer says that they have a strong immune system, considering who their AE is. The first AE that comes to mind is Jayfeather, which points at Cinderpelt. That would explain why she put him isoalted in his own room, and the murderer was "onto him" during murder in the dark. And she wouldn't want to kill her own AE. But that doesn't explain why she killed Echosong, or her CAPTCHA. Speaking of CAPTCHAs, the murderer killed them all directly after they defenitely seemed to be onto something. Maybe they left a clue somewhere. I think the murderer is definetly blackmailing Cassy. Perhaps something to do with the Mystery, which I think is some controlling force that determines all Ski Lodges. Also, the word that killed Pepper Star. Mortiferium. What does that even mean? Is that why Cassy wouldn't tell her anything? Because a word in the explaniation would kill her? The murderer also knew that the Mystery was failing, so they have no motives. As for people we know can't be the murderer, Jayfeather, and everyone they talked to in the "immune system" post that I can't seem to find right now (link, please?)
Also, the Rose sitting room, I found this after Moonfrost disccovered she could read the computer codes {Secret:/__CBer--)Moonfrost)} The Mystery is strongest in its original environment. The window in the Rose sitting room overlooks this mountain. So, it clearly goes back to the Mystery again. It also says that if you know more, you can read more. Since Moonfrost knows Cassy's secret and then some, it makes sense that she can read the strange "computer codes".
(May 3, 2018 - 9:44 am)
Hey, Shy Peacock, it's nice to know you're reading!!! I hope you've been able to find a lot of helpful ski lodge information here!
I like where your thoughts are headed...Here's the link to the part you're referring to: http://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/puddingsplace/node/283794?page=17
(May 3, 2018 - 8:12 pm)