Let’s bring back the “Choose Your Own Adventure” fantasies of old!
Today begins Wyclef’s adventure. But he needs your help. Read along every chapter and help send him on his way. Vote in a comment on this post or through either of Author Curtis A. Deeter’s social media platforms (Twitter and Facebook). Your choices will change Wyclef’s life forever and determine his Destiny.
Chapter 1: The Woods
Wyclef is about to embark on a Great Adventure.
“I’d prefer not to,” Wyclef says. “I’d rather stay home, read books, explore my family’s woods. I won’t get hurt at home…”
You see, people terrify Wyclef. The Unknown agitates the butterflies in his stomach. Voices echo in his mind, arguing so much he can’t ever get in a word.
“Hey, that’s private!”
His books shut out the voices; the silence of the woods calms his beating heart.
“Well, that’s true, I guess. Still, it’s none of their business.”
Wyclef is an only child, living with his mother and father. They own the General Store in the nearby village, Rinn. Their work keeps them away from home sometimes from before dawn to after dusk, leaving him alone…
Alone with trouble.
On this particular day, with the golden-orange sun at his back, Wyclef wanders into the woods. He carries with him his trusted tool belt: water canteen, hand axe and shovel, rope and clips, a satchel of dried jerky, and an antique compass. His grandfather gifted him the compass for his thirteenth birthday; it hasn’t left his pocket since.
It will help you find your way, Grampy said. No matter how lost.
Will it help me find you when you’re lost?
You’ll never lose me, my boy.
Then he did. Two weeks later, to the plague ravaging the city beyond the mountains. It was supposed to be a routine, weekly supply run for the store. Pa came back; Grampy didn’t.
“The compass hasn’t found him, either,” Wyclef says, kicking the roots of an oak tree. “But I’ll never stop looking. There’s time yet.”
He squeezes the smooth, round face of his way-finding medallion, stuffs it into his jacket pocket, and crosses the threshold into the darkest part of the woods. It’s time to play his favorite game:
1) To the Far Side and Back, where Wyclef traverses the stretch of the woods and makes his way back home by another path. What will he see on the Far Side?
2) Lost Until Dark, where Wyclef makes his way blindly through the woods until midday. Can he navigate his way home before dark?
3) Scavenger Hunt, where Wyclef searches the woods to find a list of flora, fauna, and special landmarks. What items have his parents listed for him today?
The choice is yours. Choose wisely.
“My life might be in your hands!”