100 DAYS PROJECT: #32
The Metamorphosis of Marley – (Marley 3)
It’s tough going back to a character, an environment that you’ve left behind unfinished. That’s why I have a file of “opening lines” and why they’ve accumulated over the years (though I am grateful for that now as it’s helped me in the last story).
Once again, I followed the theme of serialization and went back to two previous (#4 and #5) hypertext stories to pick up where we left off with Marley and a mysterious woman. For some reason, I didn’t seem to want to help Marley sort out his life; my mind just had a hard time dealing with him. This story lends more air time to the antagonist of Stephanie then.
The other thing I’ve played with here is the hypertext form as a serious choice of paths. Just as in #30 Dark Moves where the reader follows a trail of his own choice that ends up in one of five different places, this story allows movement between possibilities up to a point, then the pattern has been decided. Of course, there’s always re-reads which presents a whole different perspective.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology