TEXT: Of the Woods
  Lonely Games of Imagination
  curated by Brie Sheldon
  
  Of the Woods: Lonely Games of Imagination © 2017 Brie Sheldon and John W. Sheldon
  Locked Away © 2016 Brie Sheldon
  Hollow © 2016 Kimberley Lam
  Devour © 2016 Moyra Turkington
  Abandoned © 2016 Meera Barry
  I Believe © 2016 Chris Bennett
  Home Again © 2016 Adam McConnaughey
  All illustrations © 2017 John W. Sheldon
  www.daedalumap.com
  Brie Sheldon on Twitter and Google+
  John W. Sheldon on Twitter and Google+
  Of the Woods
  Lonely Games of Imagination
  arranged and edited by Brie Sheldon
  
  Contents
  Introduction 
  4
  Brie Sheldon
  Locked Away 
  6
  a lonely game
  by Brie Sheldon
  Hollow 
  8
  a craving game
  by Kimberley Lam
  Devour 
  10
  a game of appetites
  by Moyra Turkington
  Abandoned 
  12
  a lonely game
  by Meera Barry
  I Believe 
  14
  a lonely game
  by Chris Bennett
  Home Again 
  16
  a lonely tarot game
  by Adam McConnaughey
  
  Introduction
  When I wrote Locked Away, the first game in this collection, I shared it on 
  social media for my friends. I described it as a “lonely game”: a game meant for 
  a single player to be played alone, and with the option to share the story that 
  came from it. I’ve written a few lonely games, but this one felt so rich when I 
  played it—it made loneliness feel less empty.
  So many of my posts go unread or pass through the internet with no 
  acknowledgement that I had no reason to believe it would be read, but I 
  later got a message that someone had played it. I was very excited, and when I 
  found out that a friend—a fantastic designer, Kimberley Lam—had written a 
  piece inspired by it, I was shocked and flattered!
  I was happy in part because my game—a lonely game—had inspired some-
  thing more within a community. All of the games in this collection, from 
  Kimberly Lam, Moyra Turkington, Meera Barry, and Chris Bennett, and 
  Adam McConnaughey’s variant, were created because I made something 
  for when people are alone. To have such great creators work on something 
  meaningful for me is an honor.
  I wrote Locked Away because I don’t always have someone else to tell stories 
  with, and sometimes, telling stories alone feels good, but most of all because 
  for me, loneliness can feel empty. I hope that when you play this collection of 
  games, you will feel full in your loneliness.
  —Brie Sheldon
  
   a lonely game by
  Brie Sheldon
  
  Locked Away
  a lonely game
  by Brie Sheldon
  In your hands you hold a key; outside the forest is still.
  It is a time in the past, when candles lit the night and good books only 
  told the Word of God. You are alone with your family, exiled and full of 
  pride in your faith. Something lurks in the forest, and you lose some-
  thing precious. When others blame you, you blame the wood.
  Who are your family members?
  Who of them do you trust?
  Who of them does not trust you?
  What did you lose?
  Why did you lie, and what lie did you tell?
  What do you fear?
  What does the key unlock?
  What did you hear whispered in the dark?
  Do not speak of what lies in the wood.
  
  HOLLOW
  a craving game by 
  Kimberley Lam
  
  Hollow
  a craving game
  by Kimberley Lam
  In your chest is a void; outside the forest thrums with power.
  It has been an age since you chose to slumber to escape the ache of your 
  loss. You fled to the forest, its roots drinking deep from the world’s heart 
  and its branches stretching to pray to the stars. Someone at the forest’s 
  edge has brought you out of your restless nightmares and you rise as a 
  horror, wearing your sins like another skin.
  Who were your family members?
  Who of them do you mourn?
  Who of them drove you to flee into the forest’s embrace?
  What truth did you speak and why would you not be silenced?
  What is your great shame?
  What power has the forest given you?
  What is its terrible price?
  What do you want to feel again, at any cost?
  Draw a soul into the forest to feed your hunger.
  
  DEVOUR
  a game of appetites by
  Moyra Turkington
  
  Devour
  a game of appetites
  by Moyra Turkington
  All you hear is the trembling hunger, growing to a roar inside your mind.
  You’ve always known that people are only separated by a thin psychic membrane that 
  imposes order and sanity in the world. It was when you came of age that you grew ravenous 
  and ate through the first one. With nothing between you, you drank in your lover’s mind 
  and devoured it whole. And like a python, you’ve been smug and sated and self-satisfied ever 
  since. You thought that maybe it was just a rite of passage that made you who are today: not 
  a monster, but a victor ascendant. But it’s been seven years, and the last tendrils of your meal 
  are evaporating. You’ve started to smell the weakness in the membranes of everyone you 
  meet, and you know the time is coming for you to feast again.
  You’ve digested your meal, thought by delicious thought. What’s the last one they have left?
  How has it felt to be the only thing in their whole terrified universe?
  What will you miss about them?
  What family do you still hold tight to?
  Who among them makes you feel most human?
  What have they seen of your monstrous pride?
  Who is it that you’re fixated on consuming?
  Tell us how they scar you as you swallow them whole.
  
  ABANDONED
  a lonely game by Meera Barry
  
  Abandoned
  a lonely game
  by Meera Barry
  The laughter and conversation surround you, but your tongue is silenced.
  The lights and music fill the air, but your eyes are blinded by the rush of movement. Hands 
  holding hands, but your hands are empty. Dancing partners whirl around you, but you are 
  rooted to the ground. The room is warm with sweat and people, and you are cold, ice-cold, 
  empty. A web of glittering connections, but the spider is not home, and you fall from the net.
  Who reaches out a hand to catch you, only to fail?
  Who promises to be there and laughs as they turn their backs?
  Why do they leave? Why do they always leave?
  Who stalks you when you are lonely?
  Who would hear your voice if you could find it?
  Why do they hate you so much?
  What would ignite your fire?
  How would you punish them?
  Tell us what now fills your hands.
  
  a lonely game by
  Chris Bennett
  
  I Believe
  a lonely game
  by Chris Bennett
  They are coming tonight, and no one believes but you.
  Use any one of the following words as you answer each question 
  below. Cross off the word after you’ve used it.
  Sky, Fear, Opaque, Landing, Confusion, Never, Always, 
  Remember, Shimmer, Rumble, Goodbye
  Who will you tell first?
  Who will you hide it from?
  How do you know it’s tonight?
  How will you prepare?
  What will you put off doing?
  How will they try and stop you?
  What will you sacrifice to get away?
  How will you feel when they arrive?
  What will happen when you finally close your eyes?
  There are no whispers in the dark.
  
  HOME
  AGAIN
  a lonely tarot game by
  Adam McConnaughey
  
  Home Again
  a lonely tarot game
  by Adam McConnaughey
  You were sixteen when you left. You’re older now. 
  So you’ve come back to the small town you grew up in. You still don’t drive. It’s hotter 
  than you’d remembered. The people still look upon you with the same hard eyes. You 
  recognize a few of them.
  After you read each question, draw a Tarot card and place it in front of you. Make a spread. 
  Observe the cards as they are drawn with an eye of passive contemplation. Think on the 
  card drawn until an answer to the question becomes clear. For later questions, consider 
  the card in relationship to the other cards drawn and truths established. Write down your 
  answer. Move to the next question.
  Instead of checking out your old home, what location do you visit first, in secret? Why?
  What new feature has your town grown, like a boil?
  Who are you afraid will recognize you?
  Who are you afraid won’t?
  It’s your house. You knock; someone else lives there now, of course they do. 
  You make small talk, you leave. There is no question here.
  For this variant lonely game, you 
  will need one complete tarot deck, 
  and sufficient space to make a 
  spread of eleven cards.
  
  Home Again
  a lonely tarot game
  by Adam McConnaughey
  What memory rises to the surface, unbidden, as you turn away?
  Who recognizes you first?
  What’s in your pocket?
  Who are you here to confront for the way they wronged you cruelly?
  What did they do?
  Where do you find them?
  What happens then?
  Never return.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Collections/Self-Exploration, Emotional, & Relationship/Of the Woods Lonely Games of Imagination.pdf