Chrisonomicon

Monday, December 9, 2002

After a satisfying lunch of sushi with your friend Dave, you decide to take a leisurely walk along the Cherry Creek as the weather is beautifully warm and you're feeling gossipy, not wanting to end the afternoon bonding quite yet. The trail is populated with sporadic joggers, transients and bikers. You have walked about a hundred yards along the creek and notice the water level is quite low. What do you want to do?

> look at water_

The water is unsurprisingly low for this time of year and gurgles quietly over a small cascade of river stones. Caught in the stones is a lone red rose, upright and standing easily against the gentle current as though it had been growing there all along. Apparently it has gotten caught and you point it out to Dave who immediately comments on how picturesque the scene is. What do you want to do?

> take rose_

Unfortunately, the rose is too far away to reach from where you are standing. What do you want to do?

> move to water_

You step off the paved walkway and onto the large boulders that border the creek. The smell from the water is stronger now, vegetation and a multitude of unknown pollutants rising with the aerated aqueous, infiltrating your nostrils and making you squint with distaste. What do you want to do?

> take rose_

Laying on the giant, flat boulder beneath you, the rose is just within reach and you pluck it from the water with ease, carefully setting it next to you and standing with a quiet sense of triumph. As you begin to stand, however, your sunglasses suddenly slip from your shirt collar and tumble into the water. The two of you watch helplessly as the glasses meander quietly down the creek and deposit themselves somewhere under the current as it flows beneath the bridge up ahead. What do you want to do?

> give rose to dave_

You hand the rose to Dave who doesn't know whether to be thrilled or disgusted by your gift. Quick thinking lends him to pluck the bud from the gunked stem and toss it in the stream. "That sucks about your glasses. I'll definitely have to keep this now," he says, smiling. What do you want to do?

> move to bridge_

Walking ahead about fifty feet, you find yourselves under a street bridge that spans across the Cherry Creek and echoes the sound of the sleepy stream. Dave points to the water. "Hey, there are your glasses." What do you want to do?

> take glasses_

Your red sunglasses are submerged under three feet of water that is beneath a rather large waterfall, all in a ravine of about five feet under the sidewalk upon which you are currently standing. There is a path of boulders that leads to the bottom of the ravine. A sandbar looks as though it provides access to the water. What do you want to do?

> move to boulders_

You agilely leap down the water-worn rocks to the sandy ravine bottom and walk up to the water's edge. Your glasses are just within reach -- if you want to be knee-high in water, that is. What do you want to do?

> look around_

The sandbar is home to a mass of refuse and dried algae, along with several long branches of willow that have washed upon the shore. Dave watches from above. What do you want to do?

> take branch_

You pick up the longest branch nearest to you and return to the water's edge. What do you want to do?

> take glasses_

Holding the leathery willow branch in one hand, you place your feet on slick, green rocks and carefully step closer to the water. The branch dips easily into the water and, hooking into the nose of the glasses, lifts them out of the water and into the air. Dave cheers behind you and cautions you not to slip as you make your way back to the sandbar. You shake off your glasses, triumphantly thinking that you have beaten the creek's strange sense of karma. What do you want to do?

> time to go home_