Coraline — 19 of 122

Chapter of Unfinished Business

Unfinished Business is a scene. Unfinished Business begins when the Chase ends.

When Unfinished Business begins:

say "*** Oh, to be home again! It's good that all of this is QUITE over now... ***[line break]";

move the cat to the garden;

let x be "The marble has turned to glass fragments: they look like the remains of eggshells one finds beneath trees in springtime: like empty, broken robin’s eggs, or even more delicate - wren's eggs, perhaps.";

now the description of the yellow marble is x;

now the description of the green marble is x;

now the description of the blue marble is x.

Definition: the black key is vulnerable if the key is not enclosed by the player and the well is not primed.

Chances to snatch is a number that varies. Chances to snatch is 0.

Every turn during Unfinished Business:

if the key is enclosed by the player:

remove the hand from play;

if the key is not vulnerable:

now chances to snatch is 0;

otherwise:

if the hand is in the location of the key:

increase chances to snatch by 1;

otherwise:

move the hand to the location of the key;

say "Out of the corner of your eye, you see the disembodied hand of the creature appearing.";

if chances to snatch is 3:

if the player is in the location of the key:

say "The disembodied hand of the creature scuttles up to the key and runs away with it.";

otherwise:

say "Somehow you think... maybe you should not have left the key out of your sight...";

end the story saying "This story has come to an end... for now.";

Definition: the well is primed if the tablecloth is on the well and the boards are not on the well and the key is on the tablecloth.

Instead of putting the boards on the tablecloth:

say "That wouldn't make any sense."

Primed counter is a number that varies. Primed counter is 0.

Every turn during Unfinished Business:

if time since Unfinished Business began is greater than 4 minutes:

if the hand is nowhere and a random chance of 1 in 2 succeeds:

say "[one of]You hear a scuttling noise.[or]A rustling sound from somewhere makes you think of the creature in the other place.[or]From somewhere, you hear the sound of a secretive little animal walking on its one, two, three, four, five legs...[then at random]";

if the well is primed:

increase primed counter by 1;

if the well is not primed:

now primed counter is 0;

if primed counter is 2:

move the hand to the location of the well;

if the player is in the location of the well:

say "Out of the corner of your eye, you see the disembodied hand of the creature appearing.";

otherwise:

say "You wonder if the hand is anywhere near.";

if primed counter is 4:

if the player is in the location of the well:

say "The hand stands there for a moment, like a crab tasting the air, and then it makes one triumphant, nail-clacking leap onto the center of the tablecloth. But the tablecloth does not support the weight of the hand, and you see the hand and the key and the tablecloth disappear down, down into the deep, deep well, never to be seen again. Your trap has worked!";

otherwise:

say "You are not sure if it was so clever to leave the key and the hand thing alone together. But it probably has worked out for the best.";

remove the hand from play;

repeat with x running through all things supported by the well:

remove x from play;

end the story finally saying "This story is over."

Instead of taking the tablecloth when Unfinished Business is not happening:

say "You want to leave that on the table, right now. Maybe later, if you need it for anything..."

Instead of taking the tablecloth when the tablecloth is on the well:

if the tablecloth supports anything:

if primed counter is 3:

say "You see the hand jump onto the well, as if it was eager to get the key. With a flourish, you yank away the tablecloth and you see the hand and the key disappear down, down into the deep, deep well, never to be seen again. Your trap has worked!";

remove the hand from play;

repeat with x running through all things supported by the well:

remove x from play;

end the story saying "This story is over.";

otherwise:

repeat with x running through all things supported by the tablecloth:

remove x from play;

say "You take the tablecloth, perhaps forgetting that there was something on it.";

say "You watch [the x] fall down the well. Are you sure you wanted that to happen?";

now the player is carrying the tablecloth;

if the key is nowhere:

say "You wonder if it was such a good idea to drop the key down the well. Oh well, this is one way of ending the story.";

end the story saying "This story is over.";

otherwise:

continue the action.

Instead of putting the key on the well during Unfinished Business:

if nothing is on the well:

say "You watch the key fall down the well. Are you sure you wanted that to happen?";

say "You wonder if it was such a good idea to drop the key down the well. Oh well, this is one way of ending the story.";

end the story saying "This story is over.";

otherwise:

continue the action.