Here's what I have so far:
In pitch darkness, Nelly sees a pair of terrible white eyes glaring
at her. Slowly, they inch closer towards Nelly. She tries to run but her body
is weighing down like lead. She then wakes up as her eyes shoot open. Nelly
peers out her window; it’s a sunny day outside. There in the corner of the farm
is a large, overgrown bush of roses. She goes into the dining room where mum
and dad are having breakfast, discussing the farm work that needs to be done
today. She tries to tell her parents about the nightmare, but they quickly
brush it off and head out to work. Nelly stays in the house; she plays computer
games and watches videos online. The internet goes down suddenly, and her video
cuts off. When Nelly tries to fix it, she feels something lurking behind her.
Yet when she turns around there is nothing there. She focuses back on her
screen, and she feels a warm breath on her ear. She looks behind her abruptly,
still, nothing there. Nelly becomes frightened as she exits her room. The
corridor seems much longer and darker than usual. As she walks, she hears
something crawling right behind her. Without looking back, Nelly dashes out of
the house and goes to find her parents. Who will she go to?
àMum: Mum is sorting out the roses into their
separate colours. When Nelly arrives, mum asks Nelly to help her; not pausing
to listen to what Nelly has to say. Nelly has no choice but to help mum. She
puts on a pair of gloves and begins sorting out the roses. (Interactive time:
the reader must try to match the name of the rose to the correct rose variety;
if they get it right mum will ask Nelly what had happened; if they get the
wrong answer mum sends Nelly away to dad)
è Right
answers: Nelly talks to mum about the dark figure. Mum tells Nelly that is not
real, and she should not be afraid. She then sends Nelly off to play in the
farm. Nelly receives a pair of gloves from mum. She goes and plays by herself.
When Nelly is occupied by an activity, she does not sense the dark presence.
But whenever she settles down to rest, she feels it behind her again. This time
when she turns around, she sees something slither into hiding from the corner
of her eye. Nelly begins to feel it creep up closer and closer to her whenever
she turns her back towards it. She stands up and begins walking backwards,
until she trips and tumbles into the large bush of roses. In it, Nelly
discovers an entirely different world to her reality. The unknown figure
continues to follow her. She tries to run away and hide.
è Wrong
answers: Nelly gets sent away by mum. Jump to dad’s side.
I have made some changes, but I think there can be more done about the interactivity. This comic is not really a game; but a reading experience. I want the choices to matter.
Furthermore, I asked my sister some informal questions regarding her fears. I asked her: "If there is a really scary, creepy place that you must go into, what would you do?" Her answer was: "I will find any kind of excuse to get out of it. Or get someone else to go for me." This was interesting, but also understandable. A young reader may try to avoid any situation that may frighten them. When I asked her: "If you're so scared of those creepy things, why do you always go search urban legends online?" And my sister replied: "Because it's interesting! Well, I mean, I can read them in daylight, but then I regret when the night comes." I went on asking: "Do you still see the white eyes?" At this point she squeezed my hand a bit and said: "Yes. At night, in the dark." I questioned: "Do you see them when you open your eyes, or when you close them?" She replied: "When I open them. Any clothing, or shadow or shape, when I see two circles, I see them (the white eyes)." I comforted her: "You know it's just your imagination trying to make up for what your eyes can't make out in the darkness." And she exclaimed: "I know! But it's still scary!" I was glad that I had this conversations with my sister; I can relate to her fears, because when I was around her age, I, too, suffered from the fear of the supernatural. We discussed the things that we were scared of; I was particularly afraid of skeletons, vampires and the headless horseman. My sister agreed how skeletons frightened her, and that one would come to life and turn her into a skeleton as well. She was also scared of zombies, and how it was possible that a zombie apocalypse would happen. I said that it was not likely, and she protested that there was a time my brother and I were talking about that it was possible. My sister then let me know that she felt embarrassed for being afraid of so many things; most of which is not real. To that I said that there is nothing to be ashamed of; everyone is afraid of something. I hope that my project will let young readers understand this.Yes, there are many things to be afraid of, but that's ok. Admitting to that fear is in fact, bravery.
I did more character sketches. I've slowly started to narrow down the design options.
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