I am intrigued with story tone, how just a few words can make all the difference to a story. So, for this story, I’m going to let you choose the tone. This story has four endings, all written in white font. Click the text with your left mouse button and drag to block the hidden text and reveal the ending of your choice. Then vote for your favorite.
copyright Ted Strutz
Lighting the Way Home
There is a switch in the basement unconnected to any circuit. I always leave it on, hoping that somewhere, it is connected to a light that will lead Brad back to me from beyond.
*
I am sitting in bed, the silver moon fluorescing the room through the window, when the door opens.
“You came back.” I can barely breathe from joy.
“I saw your light,” Brad said. He kisses me, but his lips are cold and I taste decay.
_____________________________________________________
1. Scary
“I came back for you,” he whispers. I jerk awake, gasping, and run to the basement, clawing at the accursed switch.
_____________________________________________________
2. Sad
“Are you real?” He doesn’t answer. I reach out and he starts to recede. “Brad!”
I wake, tears soaking my pillow.
_____________________________________________________
3. Quirky
“Are you still dead?” I ask.
He smiles sheepishly. “Yeah. Can I come to bed?”
“Fine. Brush your teeth first, though.”
_____________________________________________________
4. Silly
“I love you, Beth,” he says.
“My name is Heather,” I say.
“Shit, I got the wrong house again.” He disappears.
_____________________________________________________
The Green-Walled Tower 
January 28th, 2015 at 10:28 pm
That’s pretty cool!
DJ
January 28th, 2015 at 11:29 pm
Thanks!
January 28th, 2015 at 10:36 pm
David,
I voted for “scary” because it seemed to carry through with the full story the best. However, it was a toss up between that and quirky. I like this idea and had fun choosing which ending to read first, second and so on. After reading all the endings, I wish you had left the main story at “Brad said.” because the part about tasting decay doesn’t work for all four endings.
Your story telling experiments as of late have been a lot of fun. Keep it up! I’ll be reading.
All my best,
Marie Gail
January 28th, 2015 at 11:29 pm
You’re right that it tends to lead towards the scary, since that was where I was going when I started it. The taste of decay in some of the other ones is either irrelevant (#4) or just goes to emphasize that he’s dead. Thanks for the critique. 🙂
January 29th, 2015 at 12:22 am
Toss up between silly and scary. I’ll go for silly because I just got rid of my nightlight. Lots of fun!
January 29th, 2015 at 7:49 pm
Yeah, you can never go wrong with silly. 🙂
January 29th, 2015 at 4:39 am
I voted sad, but having read MG I’m not too sure.
(We have some switches like that – worrying.)
January 29th, 2015 at 7:50 pm
I think most houses have some switches like that. Best not to put too much significance on them. 🙂
January 29th, 2015 at 6:41 am
Great idea 🙂
I went for silly but it was a close call!
January 29th, 2015 at 10:24 pm
Thanks. I wanted to mix it up this week. 🙂
January 29th, 2015 at 8:29 am
For some reason this didn’t work for me. I’m bummed (I’m also a computer idiot ….) So – I left click on say “Silly” then drag from there?
January 29th, 2015 at 2:33 pm
Never mind, got it to work. Love silly. It gets my vote.
January 29th, 2015 at 10:22 pm
Thanks, Alicia. I like that one too.
January 29th, 2015 at 12:23 pm
I couldn’t get it to work for me so I will vote for the one I could read. 🙂
January 29th, 2015 at 7:52 pm
An easy way to reveal them all at once is to push Ctrl-A on your keyboard. Then you can read them without having to worry about clicking and dragging.
January 29th, 2015 at 8:15 pm
Thank you! I will go back to the stories and try that.
January 29th, 2015 at 8:19 pm
Dang, I just tried that and it didn’t work. Maybe because I use an iPad with a Blue Tooth keyboard.
January 29th, 2015 at 8:26 pm
Ah, yeah not sure how it would work with that. Tell me which one and I’ll post it in comments.
January 29th, 2015 at 8:27 pm
Lighting the way home.
January 29th, 2015 at 10:19 pm
Here’s the full hidden text, so you can read them:
1. Scary
“I came back for you,” he whispers. I jerk awake, gasping, and run to the basement, clawing at the accursed switch.
2. Sad
“Are you real?” He doesn’t answer. I reach out and he starts to recede. “Brad!”
I wake, tears soaking my pillow.
3. Quirky
“Are you still dead?” I ask.
He smiles sheepishly. “Yeah. Can I come to bed?”
“Fine. Brush your teeth first, though.”
4. Silly
“I love you, Beth,” he says.
“My name is Heather,” I say.
“Shit, I got the wrong house again.” He disappears.
January 29th, 2015 at 11:03 pm
#4 is my favorite! 😀
January 29th, 2015 at 12:24 pm
Loved what you did with this, I have to say silly & quirky both made me chuckle out loud 😉
January 29th, 2015 at 10:19 pm
Thanks, Helen. Silly still makes me laugh. 🙂
January 29th, 2015 at 6:12 pm
i vote for silly. 🙂
January 29th, 2015 at 6:34 pm
Yeah, silly made me laugh so I liked that one too. 🙂
January 29th, 2015 at 10:12 pm
Looks like Silly-s winning it hands down !
January 29th, 2015 at 10:20 pm
It’s ahead at the moment. We’ll see. 🙂 I like that one, myself.
January 30th, 2015 at 6:54 am
I like Silly best. Great idea.
February 1st, 2015 at 6:51 pm
Thanks, Sandra. 🙂
January 30th, 2015 at 7:16 am
I like the way you did this. I voted for quirky but could equally have gone for sad. I felt the way you set the story up, she wanted him back, so for him then to be scary didn’t quite work. Likewise, the silly one, wouldn’t she have realised she was kissing the wrong ghost? Maybe he needs to say something like, ‘Damn, I always got you two mixed up?’
I like you interactive stories. Any chance of another series where the readers get to choose what happens next?
January 30th, 2015 at 11:07 pm
Thanks, Sarah. I hadn’t thought of another Decide your own Quest story, but you’re right, I should. I’ll let you know. 🙂
January 30th, 2015 at 2:14 pm
What a great idea, David! You’re so inventive. I voted for silly just because it was so unexpected. That said, my choice could very well be determined by my mood at the time. Well done. A pleasure.
January 30th, 2015 at 11:05 pm
It seems most people voted for silly, and actually that was my favorite too, for the same reason as you. 🙂
January 30th, 2015 at 3:34 pm
Love this idea.. the quirky made me laugh out loud.. The scary didn’t really scare me to much. (I still recall kz’s story too well)… though the tone was more consistent.
January 30th, 2015 at 11:04 pm
I think I would have needed more words to develop the scary one. In any case, no one beats KZ in the scary department. 🙂
January 31st, 2015 at 6:33 am
I unplugged all the switches in my houses.
I never knew they could do that.
And I been seeing dead people all these years and going to psychiatrists and paying all the money for nothing when I only needed to pull the plugs.
Thanks.
Randy
February 1st, 2015 at 6:51 pm
It’s a little known fact. Glad to be of service. 🙂
-David
January 31st, 2015 at 2:18 pm
Choose your own adventure! 🙂 Quirky. But then I read them all
February 1st, 2015 at 6:50 pm
Yes, I assumed most people would. 🙂 It’s more fun that way.
February 1st, 2015 at 6:54 pm
Indeed! I actually loved the choose your own adventure aspect. For someone who loves reading I’m the interactive sort.
January 31st, 2015 at 4:49 pm
I vote scary. It seems to match the rest of the story better in my mind.
February 1st, 2015 at 6:50 pm
Well, it started off with a darker theme, which is why that is. The others, especially the last thing, were to subvert the rest of it.
February 1st, 2015 at 10:10 am
How clever are you…you never cease to amaze me David 🙂
I voted quirky…though silly was a close second.
February 1st, 2015 at 6:47 pm
Thanks, Susannah. Those two were probably my favorite too.
February 1st, 2015 at 3:04 pm
Dear David,
Clever and ingenious idea.Personally, I’m a fan of silly. Maybe I just needed the comic relief today. You are a bright star in Friday Fictioneers, sir.
Shalom,
Rochelle
February 1st, 2015 at 6:45 pm
Rochelle, you aren’t the only one. Actually, I liked silly the best myself too. Glad you liked it. 🙂
February 1st, 2015 at 7:40 pm
That was great,. Loved the different endings. Very creative. Randy
March 12th, 2015 at 7:30 am
interesting