TO THE MOON
Chapter 1
Knock, knock.
No one answered.
It was windy atop of the cliff. Especially so, considering it hanged just above the ocean. The sun has long set; a chilly air stream has started to rush in, colliding with the quaint little house that stood near the edge of its suspended platform.
At its door were two white-coated figures. They weren’t wearing uniforms — it just so happened that they wore the exact same white overcoats on that very awkward workday. The one in the front raised her arm again, brushing the badge that read “Dr. Eva Rosalene” resting against her chest.
Knock, knock.
It was barely audible from the outside through the crashing waves a hundred feet below, but someone must’ve heard it this time. The faint piano music from inside the house ceased, and a call was heard.
“Ma, they’re here!”
It was the voice of a child, and that bothered Dr. Rosalene. Not because she disliked children, but because she knew that there also happened to be a dying man inside.
In fact, it has been a while since she knocked on the door of a house that didn’t have a dying man inside. Three weeks, to be exact. Three weeks ago, it was a dying woman.
She never came to save them.
“We should wear cloaks and carry scyths,” her colleague often joked. At least she hoped it was a joke.
And on this particular occasion, this co-worker happened to be standing right next to her, carrying the equipments that made their jobs possible. His name was Neil Watts. Or, as he prefered it: Dr. Watts. It gave the ring of a mad scientist or a super villain, only neither mad nor super, and not even remotely witty.
He sneezed and pushed up his glasses.
Dr. Watts liked his glasses. More specifically, he liked how they shielded his eyes from the curious glances of nosy strangers. When the clerks from the glasses shop offered him anti-reflexive coatings for his lens, he raised an eyebrow and marked them crazy.
“How much would it cost to add an extra-reflexive coating?” he had answered in a matter-of-fact tone. In the end, he walked out happily wearing a pair of one-way mirrors. They were heavier than usual and slipped down quite often, but they were worth it.
He pushed up his glasses again.
“Not a bad place to retire at, huh?” Dr. Rosalene remarked, tapping her feet. Not that she genuinely felt like having a conversation; it was just a nice relief to hear something apart from the monotonous on-goings of the crashing waves and whistling wind.
“I could do better.” Dr. Watts gave a quick glance and shrugged. “Nightshifts: love ‘em or hate ‘em?”
“You know the answer, you stupid owl.” She knocked on the door again impatiently. The chill was starting to settle in by now; she stepped closer to the house, shielding herself from the wind with its walls.
“It’s probably going to be an all-nighter, y’know.”
“I know.” She scowled. He was teasing her and she knew it. If he does it one more time, she told herself, she was going to tell him to shut up.
The wind continued to howl, and the door they waited on remained unbudged. If there were any aproaching footsteps to be heard, they would’ve been drowned out by the loud roars and clashes from the tides down below.
“. . . And I doubt they’d have any coffee–”
“Shut up.”
She began tapping her foot again as she briefly eyed the light leaking out of the second-floor windows.
“. . . And the ocean will sing lullabies. . .”
“Not through your blathering they won’t.”
Just then, there was a flash of shadow beneath the doorframe. They turned as the door clicked from inside and opened, pouring out a warm spectrum of light. A woman and two young children stood at its door way.
“Dr. Rosalene and Dr. Watts, I presume?”
“. . . I didn’t pay for this name tag to be presumed.” Dr. Watts muttered under his breath.
A screenshot from the scene
“If “To the Moon” were a novel…” It’ll be great.
The story is beautifull and there’s a lot of people that don’t enjoy playing games (like my wife!), and will love to read it.
Sorry for bad english.
I’ve had think about it (the game being a novel) when i play it.
Thanks.
wowo it must be great .. and for sure its will be best seller.
I tried your game, “To The Moon”, the best game that I’ve been played. Your story is just like poems. Keep on good works.
No matter how good graphics or music support, the story is the core. Your team will make big difference.
quickly make it into a novel and i’ll surely buy it.
If you can find the time, this game should be given the chance to become a novel for more people to enjoy that just gamers. Kan, are you working on the next chapter? What is Dr Watts secret?
that would be great
I think you should make a follow up to the game first. It was amazing. The story and emotions took me in, I cryed even! Best game. Make a second! Pewdiepie is playing it. I love it.
Amazing first chapter, for the game, and this page you wrote. There are few stories i’ll re-read or replay and this is one of them. The music you created for the game matches the mood perfectly, and i listen to the song still. Great work getting this on steam but i really hope you write the book!
They should make ups game to the moon for eight bucks
I mean iOS game
‘To the Moon’ got me thinking about the problem with the current terminology and expectations we have regarding games. I have described S:S&S EP as “an intriguing game-related experience” but after playing To the Moon I realised that, while the gameplay is not the focus, the interactive nature does add something such that I’m not sure whether it would work quite as well (at least, it would not be quite the same) in a non-interactive medium.
That said, I think a To the Moon novelisation could be a great companion piece, probably to be read after first playing To the Moon; I liked the commentary on Dr Watts’ glasses but I don’t think it would be as amusing if I wasn’t picturing his animations while I read it.
Dude right the rest of this. It would be a best seller
I really enjoyed the game and think this would be so awsome as a novel! Id definetly buy it and read it over and over
OMGOMGOMG I love it! I hope it really becomes a novel! ^_^
“…he prefered it: Dr. Watts. It gave the ring of a mad scientist or a super villain, only neither mad nor super, and not even remotely witty.”
Yep, that’s Neil alright XD
I hope it does become a novel, I would do anything to get my hands on it
I love this! I laughed so hard at the end. this was great! for a second, I thought Kan wrote this
good job, please do more, it will make my brain happy. I love how you describe Neil, he is now 19 times more attractive to me xD
wait sorry! Kan DID write this, I don’t know why I thought you didn’t… anyways I still love it! I’m going to geek off to this again x]
I’d buy the novel. It was a great game, and this would probably the first novel I’d ever read by my own will. (Not from school, college or something like that)
Can’t wait for the episode 2, though!
I totally agree, Franz, it’s a great game indeed! Can’t wait for ep 2 either
!
I started writing a To The Moon novel… It was basically just the script with a whole lot of verbs. Ahem.
I loved this chapter. ADORED it. The white coat part was hilarious. I’m working o a Dr Rosalene costume but I wasn’t sure about the appearance. Now I know she has a badge. Thanks, Kan.
To The Moon is such an amazing game.
I will totally by the book if they had one!!!!And i just want to know,is it going to have a second game of to the moon?
This needs to happen. Just after you finish all the episodes you want to do of TtM games.
This really should be a novel!! And what font did you use in the game?
I visited various blogs but the audio quality for audio songs present at
this website is genuinely marvelous.