GETTING THE WHITE TAP SHOES LIVING ROOM (back half) There's an armchair on the north wall. To the right of the armchair is an open sliding glass door leading north to a courtyard. A pet door has been installed as part of the sliding glass door. The floor is a dark wood, finely polished. There is some model railroad track inlaid into the floor here. A piano stands to the west, and further west you see a dance studio. There's a bust of Beethoven on the piano. A piano bench sits in front of the piano. The east wall is covered with bookcases, with a small desk built into the bookcases. On top of the desk is a computer. A wooden desk chair is in front of the desk. The living room continues to the south. On the music stand you see some sheet music. You see three empty boxes, two ordinary cans of spam, and a magic carpet (rolled) here. >w DANCE STUDIO The dance studio is quite large. It occurs to you that Martin's mother may have used this room to give dance lessons years ago. The north wall is completely covered by a huge mirror. The floor is magnificent, with beautifully grained wood squares arranged in a parquet pattern. The wood of the floor has many different shades, both light and dark. Near the west wall you see two indentations in the floor. A hook is on the west wall, and hanging on the hook you see some ballet slippers. A long shelf runs along the south wall. To the east you see the back half of the living room. You see Agador-Spartacus in the back half of the living room. He's lying down. >take slippers You take the ballet slippers off of the hook. You see Agador-Spartacus in the back half of the living room. He's lying down. >e LIVING ROOM (back half) On the music stand you see some sheet music. You see three empty boxes, two ordinary cans of spam, and a magic carpet (rolled) here. Agador-Spartacus is lying down here. >s LIVING ROOM (front half) You see three empty boxes, three ordinary cans of spam, and a magic carpet (rolled) here. You see Agador-Spartacus in the back half of the living room. He's lying down. >e You go through the strands of beads. DINING ROOM (by the west end of the table) On the west end of the table you see a plate, a fork, a knife, a spoon, and a glass. >ne The blue birds suddenly become alive. They fly off of the china cabinet doors and begin to flit about, making you feel as if you should sing "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah". Then the blue birds land back on the china cabinet doors and grow still. DINING ROOM (by the china cabinet) >n KITCHEN You see an envelope, a large stack of catalogs, a phone bill, a gold key, "The Bedtime Story Book", "The Boy Who Had No Words", a yellow feather, a small phone book, a short blue sock, a long black sock, a handwritten note, and a bath robe here. >x sink The kitchen sink has two basins and one faucet. The faucet can be pushed left or right. The faucet is currently turned off and positioned over the left basin. There's no water in the right basin. There's no water in the left basin. Under the sink you see the sink cabinet with two wooden doors. >look in sink cabinet You open the sink cabinet doors to take a look in the cabinet under the sink. You see some plumbing pipes here. At the back of the cabinet is a small, square passageway about the size of an air vent. You also see a pair of black tap shoes here under the cabinet. As you let go of the cabinet doors they swing shut again. >w PHONE BOOTH, in the pantry You hear the computerized voice tell you (somewhat faintly since the receiver is hanging down on its cord) ... Press "1" to be enlightened. Press "3" to be cleansed. Press "4" to be uplifted. Press "7" to be moved. Press "9" to be transmogrified. If you do not have access to a touch tone phone, please remain on the line and an operator will assist you. >press "7" You pick up the receiver. You press "7". The computerized voice goes on to tell you Please specify the destination to which you would like to be moved... Press "1" to go to the zoo. Press "2" to go to the beach. Press "3" to go to work. Press "4" to go to the store. Press "5" to go to the veterinarian's office. Press "6" to visit Mom. All other options will return you to the main menu. Please be advised that the previously mentioned destinations can be reached only through the Phantom Phone Booth object-oriented navigational system. >press "6" You press "6". You hear the sound of a motor grinding, the door slams closed, and the phone booth suddenly rises upwards very quickly. It passes the second floor landing and goes through the roof, flying high into the air. The telephone voice tells you, "Estimated travel time for this 2000 mile trip is forty minutes, using accelerated travel speed." The phone booth flies east-northeast. After about forty minutes of accelerated flying the phone booth starts to slow down and circle down to the big city below. Was that the Statue of Liberty you just saw pushing a vacuum cleaner? Just before landing you think you see Central Park. The phone booth sets itself down. The phone booth door pops open. PHONE BOOTH, on a city sidewalk You see a city sidewalk to the north. >n You drop the receiver. CITY SIDEWALK There's a large apartment building to the west. Across the busy street to the east is Central Park. On the other side of the street you see a horse-drawn carriage. The phone booth is to the south. >w You go west to get to the apartment building entrance. You tell the doorman that you're here to see Raina Kessler. The doorman buzzes her apartment, but there's no answer. Then the doorman suggests that you try looking for her in Central Park. Apparently Mrs. Kessler is a famous New York choreographer, currently working on a musical special commemorating "The Life and Times of Ginger Rogers." The show is going to be performed in Central Park in a few months, and the doorman thinks that they might be starting rehearsals soon. You go back to the sidewalk and look across the street at the park. >n You start to go north, but the sidewalk is blocked by a crazy- looking man who is shouting at the passers-by, telling them that they must change their ways before it's too late. Suddenly the man's frantic eyes focus on you. "You!" he shouts, "The blood of shamans runs in your veins, but you ignore the calling of your soul to wallow in ignorance. Go now! Seek the buffalo!" You go back south to the part of the sidewalk where you were before. >e You try to cross the street, but the traffic is so busy that you can't seem to get across. Cars honk at you and send you back up onto the sidewalk. But the driver of the horse-drawn carriage notices you, and he brings the horse and carriage over to this side of the street. The screeching and the honking of the cars doesn't seem to bother either the driver or the horse. "Round-trip tour of the park for $10," the driver tells you. "Or else you can get two one-way trips, one trip to get to the middle of the park, and then a later trip to get back here. Same price," he says. The driver looks like he's waiting for you to give him some money. >give twenty dollar bill to driver You give the twenty dollar bill to the driver, who tucks it away in his pocket. The driver gives you a ten dollar bill. You take the money from the driver. You get in the carriage and the driver flicks the reins to get the horse moving. Cars honk and screech as the cart merges into the northbound traffic and cuts over into the right lane. Then the carriage turns right to follow a path into Central Park. The park is surprisingly large. It's a pleasant place filled with interesting people. After a while, the driver stops the carriage and you get off. "When you're ready to go back, just whistle!" the driver tells you. Then he pulls away and disappears from your sight. CENTRAL PARK (near the chess tables) Two old men are playing chess in front of a group of onlookers. It's a game of speed chess, and the onlookers have made some bets based on the outcome of the game. But suddenly the game is interrupted. A bird swoops down and steals a white pawn off of the chess board! The chess players try unsuccessfully to catch the bird and retrieve the pawn. You can't actually see the bird anymore, but you suspect that it flew high up into a nearby tree. A pathway leads northeast through the trees. > give pawn to old men The two old men are delighted to have a replacement for their white pawn. They sit down to play chess as the onlookers cheer. But the game soon comes to a swift checkmate. Money changes hands as the onlookers settle up on their bets. Someone slaps you on the back and shouts in your ear exuberantly. "Yo, pawn-man!", he greets you as he pockets the twenty-dollar bill that he won betting on the chess game. As you look at the man's torn clothing and stubbly face, you realize that the outcome of this bet is likely to have been very important to him. The man introduces himself as Jackson Beauregard the third, but his friends just call him Knight Rupert. You ask Rupert if he's seen Raina Kessler. "You mean the dance- lady?" he says. "Not today. But I seen her last week when all them dancer-dudes was here. Musta been a couple hundred or more showed up to try out. The guy on the stage had 'em jumpin' around like this," Rupert says, demonstrating by leaping into the air and clicking his feet together twice before coming back down. Rupert volunteers to take you over to the stage so that you can look for Mrs. Kessler. ------------- Press space bar to continue ----------------- After walking through the park to reach the stage, Rupert takes you around the back to where there aren't any security guards. There are even more people here than you saw out front. A young woman with a clipboard approaches you and Rupert. She asks your names and then seems annoyed at not finding them on her list. Then Rupert leaps into the air and clicks his heels twice, throwing his arms out in a snappy flourish at the end. A harried-looking man with a ponytail and an armful of white tuxedos hurries over and talks to the woman with the clipboard. "Derek says that Ms. Raina wanted to add ten more men to the chorus so that they could put more stairs on the set for the first act finale," he tells her. "The A.D. probably hasn't had a chance to update the list yet." The ponytail man eyes Rupert's physique from head to toe. "38 long?" he asks. "Shoes 10 double-wide?" Rupert nods enthusiastically. A blond girl with freckles takes Rupert aside and hands him a white tuxedo and white tap shoes. Then the man with the ponytail glances briefly in your direction, saying "What about you?" Trying to impress him, you jump up into the air and try to do something with your hands resembling a flourish. The ponytail man makes a moue with his mouth and whispers something inaudible to the woman with the clipboard. "Maybe he's a tenor," she whispers in reply. ------------- Press space bar to continue ----------------- At this point a man with a goatee enters, followed by an entourage of people asking him questions. "Derek, does Ms. Raina want to see the Fred Astaire impersonators tomorrow?" someone asks him. "No, put them off until Tuesday. Ms. Raina has some kind of family emergency to deal with," he answers. "This morning she went to pick up her daughter at the airport and now she doesn't want to be disturbed. She even turned off her cell," he adds significantly in sotto voice. Everyone is silent for a moment, trying to absorb the concept. Then Rupert taps you on the shoulder. Rupert asks you in a whisper, "You be a tenor, pawn-man?" When you tell him no, he sneaks an extra pair of white tap shoes into your hands and suggests that you take a hike. This seems like good advice to you, so you slip away unseen. Once outside, you find yourself getting lost again, and you end up back near the chess tables. CENTRAL PARK (near the chess tables) No one else is here. You're all alone with the chess tables. Suddenly a bird flies overhead and drops something small on your head. The bird flies out of sight as the object clatters to the ground. A pathway leads northeast through the trees. You see a white pawn here.