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<<set $hasRing = false>>
<<set $hasPhoto = false>>
<<set $useKey = false>>
"Will you, have Kevin Hayward to be your husband? Will you love him, comfort and keep him, and forsaking all others remain true to him, as long as you both shall live?"
This girl, with tears in her eyes, staring at you affectionately, says,
"Yes."
Her tears drop, on the biggest and most beautiful smile you have ever seen. She is now your wife.
"Will you," the priest turns to you, "have Rebecca Olsen to be your wife? Will you love her, comfort and keep her, and forsaking..."
You have the most solemn "Yes" you will ever say in your life at your tongue tip, but suddenly this entire church starts [[shaking]].
Everything disappears around you, so does Rebecca. All you can see is pure whiteness.
You close your eyes and open them again, just to see if this is real. You find yourself in a college dormitory.
There are two large suitecases by a bed next to you. There is another bed at the other side of the room. Both only have bare mattresses on them. The closets and study desks are all empty.
"Hey man! You must be Kevin." A tall and muscular young man stands by the door, with two large suitecases in his hands as well. He puts them down and walks to you to shake your hand.
"I'm Russell Renner. Call me Russ."
"Nice...to meet you. I'm Kevin." You have not recovered from what happened just now.
"I guess we are living here in our freshmen year huh." Russ looks around the room, full of excitement. He suddenly says, "You know what, we should [[take a photo]] now. Let's do it!" <<set $hasPhoto = true>>
Russ hears you and stops. He looks at you and look back. The building is falling apart, and he has no time to think. He turns around and runs toward you. As he approaches you, he hands the photo to you, "You keep it!"
You take the photo and put it in your pocket.
You and Russ run toward the end of the hallway and you [[exit the door.|Home]]
<<set $hasPhoto = false>>
You run toward the end of the hallway and [[exit the door|Home]]
Once again, you are absorbed into pure whiteness. The moment you realize, you find yourself sitting at the dinning table in your childhood home. Breakfast is on the table.
You realize your body is in a smaller size, because your feet can barely reach the floor. Your mother sits next to you. She looks very young, so much younger than the image you have in your mind.
"Kevin, finish your cereal and I have something important for you."
You quickly pour the half bowl of cereal in your mouth and put down the empty bowl. Your mom smiles.
She pulls her chair closer to yours and leans forward to you. Taking out a key from her purse, she says, "Kevin, you are a big boy now, and mom thinks you should have a key to our home. With this, you can go out by yourself and don't need to worry about having mom by your side. This is a lot of trust but also a lot of responsibility. Can I trust you with this?"
This feels like a dejavu to you, distant but somewhat familiar. You say, "[[Yes!]]"
As you turn the key, the door opens. The house is falling apart, so you have no time to ask why. You immediately enter the room and close the door.
The moment the door closes, all the shaking and turbulance stops. The peaceful morning comes back as if nothing ever happened.
This room is almost completely empty. All you can see is the four walls, and a cookie jar sitting on the floor. You walk to it and sit by its side on the floor. As if driven by some divine spirit, you gently pick up the cookie jar, put it on your lap, and carefully [[open it up]].
When the world appears again in front of your eyes, you are in the hospital, lying on a bed.
<<if $hasRing>>
Rebecca is sitting by your side, with tender tears in her eyes. Seeing you wake up, her tears drop onto the biggest, and most beautiful smile. The same smile you saw many years ago.
<<else>>
An old lady about your age is sitting by your side, looking at you with tears in her eyes. Seeing you wake up, her tears drop onto a big and beautiful smile. That smile seems familiar. You try to remember who she is, but your memory betrays you.
<</if>> <<if $hasPhoto>>
An old man is standing by the window, holding a Polaroid camera at you. That's your old friend Russ.
"Hey man. Don't look so confused! I know you remember me!"
As the flashlight casts on your face, you smile, as you always do to Russ's camera.
<<else>>
An old man is standing by the window, holding a Polariod camera at you.
"Hey man, you finally wake up! Let's get a photo."
As the flashlight casts on your face, you ask "I'm sorry who are you again?"
<</if>>
You look around the room, and notice the [[cookie jar]] on your lap. You ask, "Can I open it?"
Both of them nod.
Debris and dirts fall from the ceiling. People start running in panic, either trying to find places to hide or rushing out of the church.
You are stoned in place, not knowing what to do. In no time, Rebecca takes your hand, and rushes to the door. You immediately come back to reality and start running with her, with her hand in yours.
As you are about to rush out the church, Rebecca stops. She takes out her ring and put it on your ring finger.
"You have to go out by yourself now. This is the only way to save me!"
"No! What are you talking about?" All you want is to be with her. With her.
"Listen. Take this ring and go out. You can save me and you will see me soon. I promise." Rebecca is determined.
The hall of the church is collapsing behind her, but she stays calm.
[[Take the ring and go out the door|College][$hasRing to true]]
[[Hold her in your arms and close your eyes|College][$hasRing to false]]
Without waiting for your response, he quickly takes out a Polaroid camera from one of his suitcases and stands by your side. One hand holding the camera high, pointing toward your faces, the other hand around your neck, he says "3, 2, 1, cheese!"
As the flashlight casts on your face, a photo comes out of the camera. Russ quickly flaps it and shows it to you. "Look at us. First day of college!"
You look at the [[photo]].
You look absent-minded in the photo, but all of a sudden your body freezes: you see Rebecca in it! She is passing by behind you and Russ. Her figure is blurry but you know it must be her.
The moment you see her, the dormitory starts shaking as well. Russ yells, "What is going on! Is this an earthquake?"
<<if $hasRing>>
You reach into your pocket. The ring is there.
<</if>>
You quickly run out of the room, and rush toward the same direction that Rebecca was going.
You notice Russ rushes out as well but is going to the opposite direction.
[["Hey Russ, run with me!"]]
[[Just keep running.]]
"Okay. Here you go." Mom hands you the key, and you hold it tight in your hand.
"Mom is going to work now. You have fun!" Mom walks to the door. Before she exits, she turns around and says, "Remember to the lock the door if you go out."
The moment mom leaves home, the house starts shaking again. This time you immediately run for the door, but the stair collapes and blocks it.
You have no choice but jumping out from the window, but a door by the side of the dinning room catches your attention. You never noticed that door today and you don't remember it exists in your memory. It almost appeared out of nowhere but it is right there.
[[Try the key on the door|Cookie Jar][$useKey to true]]
[[Jump out of the window|Hospital][$useKey to false]]<<if $hasRing and $hasPhoto>>
<<set _itemList = "the ring, the photo, and the key">>
<<elseif $hasRing and not $hasPhoto>>
<<set _itemList = "the ring and the key">>
<<elseif not $hasRing and $hasPhoto>>
<<set _itemList = "the photo and the key">>
<<else>>
<<set _itemList = "the key">>
<</if>>
You see shoe laces, a broken Gameboy, photos, written notes...
All the memory floods into your mind, and you start to visualize all the special moments in your life that these items represent. The basketball game you won, the birthday present from grandma, the notes from your best friends when you moved to a different state...
You reach into your pocket, and put <<print _itemList>> in the cookie jar.
As you close the cookie jar, your hands gradually wrinkle, turning into an old man's hand. The cookie jar is still on your lap, but everything else [[disappears|Hospital]] again.
You open the cookie jar. On the top, there is a [[letter]]. You take it out and start reading.
<div class="container-outer">
<p class="title_name">Cookie Jar</p>
<p class="author">Tim Jia</p>
<p class="start">[[start|Wedding]]</p>
<img id="background" src="https://i.ibb.co/kM61mfV/Cookie-Jar.png">
</div>
<style>
.container-outer {
position: relative;
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
overflow: hidden;
}
.title_name {
position: absolute;
color: #dcdcc8;
font-size: 50px;
font-family: "Lucida Console", Courier, monospace;
text-align: right;
background-color: black;
width: auto;
right: 5%;
padding-left: 10px;
padding-right: 10px;
bottom: 35%;
}
.author {
position: absolute;
color: #dcdcc8;
font-size: 30px;
font-family: "Lucida Console", Courier, monospace;
text-align: right;
width: auto;
right: 5%;
bottom: 25%;
}
.start {
position: absolute;
font-size: 20px;
font-family: "Lucida Console", Courier, monospace;
text-align: center;
width: 100%;
bottom: 10%;
}
#background {
display: block;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
width: 100%;
}
body.title {
background-color: black;
}
</style>
Hey Kevin,
You probably don't remember but I'm you. You have Alzheimer's disease. In other words, you forget. You forget a lot of things, your wife, your best friend, and even your mom, but that's okay. It's not your fault.
Check out this cookie jar from time to time. It has been special in your whole life, so I know you would do that. It will help you [[remember]], until it doesn't...
Best,
Kevin<<if $useKey>>
<<if $hasRing and $hasPhoto>>
<<set _itemList = "a wedding ring, a photo between you and Russ, and a key">>
<<elseif $hasRing and not $hasPhoto>>
<<set _itemList = "a wedding ring and a key">>
<<elseif not $hasRing and $hasPhoto>>
<<set _itemList = "a photo between you and Russ, and a key">>
<<else>>
<<set _itemList = "a key">>
<</if>>
<<else>>
<<if $hasRing and $hasPhoto>>
<<set _itemList = "a wedding ring, and a photo between you and Russ">>
<<elseif $hasRing and not $hasPhoto>>
<<set _itemList = "a wedding ring">>
<<elseif not $hasRing and $hasPhoto>>
<<set _itemList = "a photo between you and Russ">>
<<else>>
<<set _itemList = "nothing">>
<</if>>
<</if>>
You close the letter and dig deeper into the cookie jar. You see shoe laces, a broken Gameboy, a lot written notes and letters.
<<if $useKey>>
There is one photo of a middle-aged woman. You hold it to your heart, because you recognize she is your mom.
<<else>>
There is one photo of a middle-aged woman. She looks a lot like you, but you don't know who she is, so you put it aside.
<</if>>
Along with all of them, you see <<print _itemList>>.
THE END.