You wake up. The sound of the [[alarm clock->alarm]] slowly reaches your conscious attention.(set: $n to 0)
[[6:55->time]]. The sound instills a sense of purpose. A suddenly clear direction that your life should take: [[turn the alarm off->turnoff]].
Still 6:55. In the darkness, your only temporal reference between the minute ticks is the steady pace of the loud tweeter bursts. They seem to grow longer and longer as you concentrate on their characteristics. You can feel the clock forcibly pulse air into your ears, sucking it back out on the downslope. [[Turn it off->turnoff]].
You reach out and turn the sound off, knowing its exact position in the darkness only by repetitive exercise of the exact motion every day. The sense of purpose subsides, the silence left in the absence of the alarm inspiring non-action. You should still [[get up->getup]].
No. [[Try later->later]].
OK. You turn the light on and stand up. 7:00. You have optimized your routine in order to be up at 7:00. The division of the day into twenty-four units is the only absolute. On the seventh unit you need to be up in order to have time to prepare for the eighth unit. Those are almost absolutes. Success.
There is a [[matryoshka doll->doll]] on your nightstand.
You didn't put this here. In your quiet solitude, the thought that someone else might have put it there doesn't quite form. It's red. Black eyes stare back at you. You should [[open it->opendoll]].
(set: $n to $n + 1)Inside the doll is another. It shouldn't surprise you. This one is (either: "red", "blue", "green", "yellow", "white", "black", "pink", "purple").
{
(if: $n is 3)[This is fine craftsmanship. The doll is tiny.]
(if: $n is 6)[How small can they possible make these? It doesn't seem much smaller than the last one.]
(if: $n is 9)[You realize that you are shrinking. You don't mind.]
(if: $n is 12)[The first doll is now larger than you are.]
(if: $n < 15)[[[Open the doll->opendoll]].]
(else:)[You hear a tapping sound grow louder behind you, followed by a strong wind. It's a [[spider->spider]].]
}
Its eyes are staring blankly, each seemingly in its own indiscernible direction. Its hairy mandibles are oscillating in front of what you can assume is its mouth, making a scraping noise as they touch.
At its relative size, the spider is intimidating, but it is incapable of anything but a perfectly neutral expression. It only acts on impulse, its every action a reproducible effect of the streamlined stimuli it is capable of sensing. You could try to [[hide in a doll->hide]], but that would definitely alert it of your presence. On the other hand, the spider would probably beat you at the [[waiting game->wait]].
Before you've even had the chance to turn around to retreat, the force of the spider shifting towards you blows you off your feet. It is standing over you. It eats you and you become the spider. It's not so bad.
The End
For now, it is a good thing that the spider's disposition towards its experience of reality seems unaffected by your presence.
However, your nose is growing irritated. Inside your left nostril, one of the many hairs have curled inward. The spider is unaware of this and will be unable to respect the eventual [[expulsion of air->sneeze]] that this is going to cause as a temporary cease-fire in your standoff. Maybe it is better to [[hide->hide]].
You can't hold it in. The desire to sneeze is finally greater than your desire to escape the spider. Your body is calling the shots, your reasonable inclination not to sneeze only a note in the margin of its [[final decision->sneeze2]].
Surprisingly, this causes the spider to move away. An error in its judgement, had it one. You see your [[chance to hide->hide2]], but the erratic behavior of the spider is no assurance of further success, so maybe you should just [[stay->wait]].
You run for the smallest doll, now larger than you are. The spider does not seem to react. Spiders do not plan or coordinate. There is no explanation for what can barely be called its decision. You open the doll and crawl inside, letting it close behind you.
You find it empty. You are now the innermost doll.
The End