Walking a Tightrope

Part 1

You are walking the tightrope home from the supermarket, many feet above the ground—your heavy rucksack on your back, plastic bags hanging from both outstretched arms. At the halfway point you meet a neighbour on their unicycle and there are complicated manoeuvres so the two of you can pass each other.

As you continue on the way home, it occurs to you that there might be a safer and easier way of getting around the town.

Using the ground!


To call an informal meeting with your fellow town inhabitants, go to part 2.

To go straight to the council, go to part 5.




Part 2

You’ve got together with some of the other townspeople to discuss travelling on the ground.

You make good points:

We could all have four wheeled vehicles! We would be able to transport more stuff in one go! People wouldn’t keep plummeting to their deaths!

No-one seems impressed.

“It’s healthier to be up in the air!” calls one neighbour.

“What would be the point then of all those tightrope lessons we had to go through?” calls another.

“We’d be putting all the tightrope maintainers out of work!” calls a third.


You’re getting nowhere.

Do you decide to give up? Go to part 4.

You decide to go to the council with your idea. Go to part 3.




Part 3

You have to wait for an appointment. When you see the council member, the other townspeople have already submitted their objections, and you’re turned down flat.


Go to part 4.




Part 4

You leave downcast. And because you’re not paying full attention to where you’re putting your feet, you slip off the tightrope.

As you plummet to your death, you consider that at least you’re strengthening your argument.


The end




Part 5

You have to wait a while for an appointment to see a council member but this only means you can put together a even more compelling argument.

The woman you’re talking to doesn’t seem terribly impressed though. Is it your lack of charisma letting you down? You decide to try the personal touch.

There’s a newspaper article framed on the wall about extra parking for unicycles, and amongst the pictures on her desk there is a photograph of a young man in a mortarboard and gown, proudly holding a scroll.


To pay tribute to the council member’s work, go to part 6.

To compliment her on her son, go to part 8.




Part 6

She seems touched that you care about council work and begins to listen more seriously.

Eventually she says that the tightropes can’t be replaced but she has a suggestion for improved safety.


Agree to hear the suggestion. Go to part 7.

Press for the tightropes to be replaced by travelling on the ground. Go to part 11.




Part 7

The council member suggests a one way system. No more awkward manoeuvres if someone’s coming towards you.

It’s a start, and you agree to it.

Unfortunately, it does mean that it’s now a two hour commute for you to get to work and there’s a continuous stream of unicyclists past your front door.


The end




Part 8

The young man is of course her husband. Damn your rigid thinking patterns and poor social skills!


You leave at once. Go to part 4.

You try to put things right. Go to part 9.




Part 9

Crikey, your social skills are really bad. The council member chases you out of the building and out onto the tightrope. But thankfully you’re getting away, until you hear a yell behind you.

The council member has slipped and is holding onto the wire by one hand. You naturally retrace your steps and manage to assist her in getting both hands back on the wire so she can make her way slowly to safety.

Once back in the building, she agrees that something perhaps has to be done regarding risk, though the tightropes can’t be removed altogether.


Do you listen to the suggestion? Go to part 10.

Or insist the tightropes must be replaced by walking on the ground? Go to part 11.




Part 10

The council member suggests safety nets. You’re very happy to agree to this. You point to a photograph of an elderly woman and tell her mother would be very proud of her.

This is of course the council member’s other spouse.

You leave hurriedly while the council member is visibly counting to ten. But still! Safety nets! You’ve done well.


The end




Part 11

The council member finally agrees. The tightropes will be removed and roads and pavements will be built instead!

Unfortunately this ends up costing millions of pounds in extra taxes. Nobody in the town will speak to you.

Which means as well as a safer environment, you won’t have to worry about your poor social skills ever again.

Score!


The end