#mountaingoats

Mountain goats on a majestic peak

An adventure game’s inventory, inspired by prokopetz’s writing prompt .

Mostly-empty bottle of tea-tree oil - You really wish you’d realized tea-tree oil has nothing to do with earl grey before chugging half the bottle.

Cup of tea (cold) - Still better tasting and less toxic than the tea-tree oil, but perhaps even more disappointing.

Skein of green embroidery thread - It’s a stunning green and soft to the touch. Now all you have to do is make sure it doesn’t fall and unravel on the floor again before you get around to completing your project.

Pair of chopsticks (new) - Perfect for munching on sushi or stabbing very slender vampires.

Tea light candle (unlit) - Simple, small, white candles, good not so much for providing light so much as ambiance. Also not something you should drink.

>USE mostly empty bottle of tea-tree oil ON cup of tea (cold). Ha ha ha! Not so fast! You won’t be fooled again so easily, you treacherous, misnamed bottle of lies!

>USE mostly empty bottle of tea-tree oil ON skein of green embroidery thread The thread is now scented! Admittedly it’s a pungent, somewhat medicinal scent, but scented nonetheless! You now have a small empty bottle and a soggy skein of embroidery thread.

>USE mostly empty bottle of tea-tree oil ON pair of chopsticks (new) You attempt to pick the slick, round bottle with the chopsticks. The bottle immediately slips and shatters on the ground. You now have a pile of glass shards and a puddle of tea-tree oil to clean up.

>USE mostly empty bottle of tea-tree oil ON tea light candle (unlit). Is tea-tree oil flammable? You’ll soon find out!

>USE cup of tea (cold) ON skein of green embroidery thread If your tea was imbued with magical powers, surely the thread would now be enchanted. But it wasn’t and it isn’t. You now have a soggy skein of embroidery thread.

>USE cup of tea (cold) ON pair of chopsticks (new) I think you’re confused by the ideal type of nutrients with which you use these utensils to consume.

>USE cup of tea (cold) ON tea light candle (unlit) You’ll need to light the candle before you can warm up the tea.

>USE skein of green embroidery thread ON pair of chopsticks (new) You pick the thread up like a pile of thin, green noodles. Appetizing.

>USE skein of green embroidery thread ON tea light (unlit) Your hands move as if on their own volition and you find yourself unravelling the thread, and weaving it into an intricate circle around the candle. The shapes it makes are strangely sinister, and the more you look at it the more you feel like the threads tumble around each other and create forms that shouldn’t be able to exist, not in a three dimensional world, not obeying these laws of physics and sense. And yet, as distressing as they are, something deep, dark, distant, calls to you…You never find out what the call was saying through, because your cat took that moment to leap across the room and knock the thread into a tangled but harmless heap. You feel both relief and loss.