The Dandelion Girl: Do You Remember Me? (2019):

The Dandelion Girl: Do You Remember Me? (2019):

“A short visual novel about a middle-aged man on his summer vacation, where he meets a strange girl who claims to be from the future. Adapted from a short story.” - Steam

Well, the title kind of spoils the twist, but let's get into it. This is a kinetic novel (There are no choices, so it's not actually a visual novel.) based on a short story by Robert F. Young in 1966. It's about the adventures of a man named Mark who has decided to take a vacation in Cove City, after working so hard as a lawyer. There he meets a 17 year-old girl Julie Danvers in a field of dandelions. She lets him in on a secret. Her father is a government scientist who built a time machine, and she is actually from 240 years in the future.

At first, Mark plays her off as just being imaginative. But, the more they talk, the more she lets some of her father's time travel theories slip, and Mark starts experiencing odd fits of deja vu. Over the course of his stay in the cabin in Cove City, he begins to appreciate his get-togethers with Julie and talking time travel with her, as well as appreciating her playfulness and his own present moment.

Mark starts to wonder if he could've avoided being drafted in the Vietnam War, and has a violent flashback of shooting an enemy soldier. Julie explains that no, you can't change time, because it's like a book that's already been written. “Whatever happens, happens.” she says. You can only create events that lead to the present. Or at least, that's what her father says.

Julie enjoys looking at clouds and nature and says everything is destroyed by industry in her time. She also mentions that her father is being pursued by the Time Police. Mark and Julie enjoy looking at clouds and Julie says everything is perfect in the 1960s. Mark laughs, and says Julie will say that about other decades too.

Over time, she starts missing get-togethers with Mark and he starts to worry about her. Years later, when Mark is getting married, he experiences the deja vu, and realizes all of Julie's irrational fears about Time Police and her father make sense. I'm not going to spoil it. You can download it on Steam.

So, was it a good read? Yes. I usually prefer visual novels over kinetic novels, but I also like sci-fi. To be fair, this is soft sci-fi, and very short. But, it's still a good story about having experiences and connections with someone that you can't quite explain. It's definitely of its era, as Julie helps Mark heal from the trauma of the Vietnam War, and Julie escapes the destruction of her time. The format of the kinetic novel fits really well with Julie's “Book of Time” theory.

That said, there was one thing I didn't like, and that is the inclusion of onomatopoeic sound effects in the novel. “Ah...” “Kuuuu...” and “Unngh...” that I'm sure are not in the original 1960s “The Dandelion Girl” story. They just point out that you're playing an anime-style game. I found it distracting in what was otherwise a relaxing and philosophical game. The music is gentle and good for reflection, and then you see...”uuungh”. It really breaks the deeper moods.

That's the only thing that really took me out of it. Other than that, it's a good game. Check it out on Steam. It's free. Took me about an hour to read. A good soft sci-fi story. There are no killer robots or action scenes, but if you just want to relax and take a break, it's a good read. Give it a look, if you can.

Leave Mr. Bear Alone (2023):

Leave Mr. Bear Alone (2023):

“A Visual Novel about a bear that kinda just wants to be left alone.”

Leave Mr. Bear Alone is a funny visual novel designed by one guy. It's a short one. Reportedly, it's 500 words. The only way to win is to leave Mr. Bear alone. But, the catch is to read more of the story, you have to follow Mr. Bear. So, he gets more and more annoyed, until you lose.

You see, whenever you choose not to follow Mr. Bear, you win. But, the story ends. It'd probably be a good party game or prank game. It takes about 20 minutes. You can follow Mr. Bear through the lake, to his house, or throw a party in the woods for Mr. Bear...but he really wants you to leave him alone.

Give it a try. It's not too long. But, you're gonna lose a lot. Mr. Bear really wants to be alone. Don't follow him. He's gonna be mad. This is pretty funny. Mr. Bear will say things like “Oh, you just COULDN'T LEAVE ME ALONE!” Make a party game of it, and see who can follow the longest. At least it's funny.

Short Story: The Pigmen

Intro: Well, I thought I'd celebrate my return by posting another original short story. This one is The Pigmen. It has many influences...among them George Orwell, (1984/Animal Farm) The Twilight Zone, and Pink Floyd. From my own alien experience, this story represents how medical professionals often see my body, according to me. Also, that the medical profession is run by piggy banks...unfortunately. I'd like to develop this story further actually...but until then, here's The Pigmen!

     

THE PIGMEN:

by Chris Bowsman

It was dark when I first saw the pigmen. I could make out only a hazy snout lit by torchlight. One of them drugged me when a green pill was forced down my throat, and bound my hands with force cuffs behind my back, while another boxed me around with heavy hands until my gut was visibly torn and I choked back bits of blood and vomit. The air around me smelled like dank piss. If the swine's wrecking ball sized fists didn't do me in, the stench would.

"Don't worry." sneered the pig behind me.

“We’ll improve you soon.” said the pig who was in front. Before I blacked out, I consciously shook my crooked fist in rage.

I awoke face down in a sea of filth with barely enough light to see the sewage spilling over me in this tunnel. Miraculously, I stood and dodged the oncoming torrent of mud and scum. Someone had cut me free…but who? A man in a dark cloak let out a strangled whisper. “The pigmen above ground don’t want us to reach the light.” He said. He took me by the force cuff and led me down the darkness.

A door whooshed open from behind. Through my blurred vision I could still see the giant chrome chamber,  full of sticky sacks hanging from the ceiling: The mutation chambers. I cut through them with the force cuffs, and we moved onto the roof, shaped like a trough and adorned with the high-flung banner of the Pig Empire: red with a black pig head.

A dozen soldiers greeted us and came out squealing, “Come out with your hands up!” Laser rifles pointed at us. We jumped down into the trough, and since the pigs liked that filth, they couldn’t spot us. We jumped a guard in one of the escape pods from before the pig takeover. As we flew out of sight, and cheered ourselves, we saw the Empire disappear.

Then, I knew what would finally do us in. It wasn’t greed that would destroy us. It was our willingness to stay in filth. To let ourselves be “improved” by drugs. To let them make us think we are ugly and stupid. As my vision blurred over, my comrade grew a snout and tail. So, the mutation had begun.
Thinking quickly, I threw the pod into a nosedive and crash-landed in the desert to throw him off. He bit me in the leg, and squealed, and I kicked him in the snout. That would be the end of him, I thought, and cleaned myself in the oasis, until I squealed in horror…  that I had now become a pig!

“If you didn't care what happened to me, 

And I didn't care for you, 

We would zigzag our way through the boredom and pain. 

Occasionally glancing up through the rain. 

Wondering which of the buggars to blame. 

And watching for pigs on the wing.”

- Pink Floyd, Animals, Pigs on the Wing Pt. 1 

SHORT STORY: TED'S SECRET (19TH ANNIVERSARY)

When I was in 2nd grade, I used to write "books" on an electronic typewriter of usually 1-5 pages, each one or two lines, and bound with stapled construction paper. I loved to write these. One such story was Ted's Secret. Written in February of 1994, it was the first story I ever wrote that was an attempt at an epic adventure story.

Looking back on it, I was amazed because it incorporated epic themes, and played off of Nintendo games, computer games, and cartoons...where I would've gotten stories at the time. It even had a coherent moral: That you can ask for people to help, but never trust blindly. It's only drawback was the 2nd grade grammar I used at the time.

Previous morals for these "books" included: "And that's why you never ask what pancakes are being made!" (On second thought, that could've been me being silly!) and "That's why there is a rainbow at the end of the rainbow." (That was definitely a mistake.) But, this one ended with "And Ted went home happily." (But, I forgot to mention about half the story until now.) Ending aside, it was my first coherent epic!

On the 19th anniversary of this little "book" which encapsulates my early love of adventure stories, cartoons, and videogames...particularly Legend of Zelda! I decided to edit it, expand it, and change the grammar to make it more accessible to others. But, I still wanted young children to be able to read it, and maybe better understand the moral. So, I kept it simple. If alien anthropologists discover my body thousands of years from now, I'd want them to discover Ted's Secret on me. It is one of the best I've ever written.

Without further ado, Through Alien Eyes presents: Ted's Secret!

Ted’s Secret:

  One day, a man, Ted went hunting. “Eh?” He asked as he opened his secret chest. My secret isn’t where I put it! Maybe someone knows where it is.” He couldn’t hunt without it, so he went to the church to see if the nun could help.

"No, I'm sorry, but I cannot help you." said the nun. "But, my brother, the hermit collects such things. Perhaps he can help you. He lives in the Hills of High Fire." The nun bowed, leaving Ted.

So, Ted climbed to the Hills of High Fire, where flame surrounded the hermit. "Beg your pardon, sir. Are you the nun's brother?" asked Ted.
"Why yes! I am." said the squinty eyed old man, peaking through the fiery walls. "And what would you be seeking?"

"I'm looking for my secret." Ted explained. "The nun said you might collect such things."
"Why, yes, I might have that in my collection." The snaggle-toothed crone stepped out from the fire, and said. "Can you tell me what it looks like?"

Ted thought for a while, and whispered to the old man. “It is a treasure of unimaginable wealth. It took me sixty-one weeks to find it.”

“Ah!” said the hermit, digging around in his hovel. “A treasure, big with lamps and rubies on it!” cackled the nun’s brother.
    Ted shot the old man a look. “Do you have it, old hermit?” Ted wondered how the nun’s brother could be so crazy.

“No, I don’t have anything like that!” shouted the hermit. “But, maybe the willows have such things as you seek, adventurer. Beware, the willows can be nasty, and will throw apples at you.”

“Then, give me what I need to go see the willows!” Ted protested.

The ancient hermit coughed and wheezed in insane laughter. “Here is a shield to block the apples. And a gas mask. The Willow Woods are smelly.” He smiled toothlessly, and handed Ted the things. “Now, leave me be! I have to call the firefighters!” Hermits collect such strange things! Ted thought, and put on the gas mask, bidding his friend good-bye.

Away Ted went to the Willow Woods. The tall dark trees made him look small. They hunched down to speak with hideous, crooked faces.

“Who are you, little man?” They demanded.

“I’m Ted, the hunter.” said Ted. “And I seek my secret that I lost this morning!” Yelled Ted back at the willows.

“Go away, we don’t have it!” Said the willows altogether, and threw apples with their hand-like branches.
   “Amazing!” Thought Ted, blocking the apples. “A forest that attacks travelers! What are you, knaves?”
     Suddenly, those trees sobbed and said, “You may pass! We are only slaves to the warlock in the Grey Tower.”

“Amazing!” said Ted. “Does the warlock know where my secret is?”

“A warlock knows many things.” said the eldest willow. “And if he did have a secret, he would keep it to
himself. Yes! He could have it, and if you face him, we could finally be a peaceful forest! Go, Ted!” The
trees cracked woody smiles, and made a road.

And Ted went down the road happily. Then, he went to the warlock’s tower, and knocked on the big door.
“Who are you?” asked the warlock.
“I’m Ted, and I came from the forest looking for my secret!” Exclaimed Ted to the warlock.
“Come in.” said the warlock. “I have many secrets.”
“Have you seen mine?” asked Ted.
“You defeated the willows. You must be a warlock too. Is it magic?” said the warlock
 “No,” said Ted. “It’s a treasure of unimaginable wealth. It took me sixty-one weeks to find it.”
 “Ah!” said the warlock. “Yes! I have magical treasures. What will you give me for it?”
  Ted showed him the shield and gas mask.

 “Wow!” shouted the warlock. “I have never seen things like that. Now, I will show you my mirror.” Then, Ted went to the mirror room, and saw himself in it.
  He looked weird and strange. The mirror was shiny, but didn’t look like a treasure.
“Aha! A trick, old man!” Yelled Ted.
“It’s no trick, the mirror shows the truth.” said the warlock. “It knows where the secret is!”
“Where?” asked Ted, “But it only shows me, and I emptied my pockets!”
“Ah, look inside!” said the warlock. So, Ted jumped inside the mirror. The sky was green and the grass outside was blue and sunny. Of course, Ted thought. In the mirror world, it’s the opposite! He will find the secret instead of losing it! So, Ted went back to hunting, and remembered the secret.
 On a white cliff, near a green lake, Ted  found a chest. Ted opened the lock, but right there was a girl who snatched it away.

“There it is!” she said. “I found it!”
“Hey!” said Ted. “That’s my secret! Who are you?”
“I’m Theodora, the huntress.” She said. She looked just like him.
“Of course!” said Ted, “If I’m here, and I remember, then you forgot it.”
“It’s mine now!” said the girl.
“Yes, but you’re just a mirror illusion.” said Ted. “I’m going to leave now, and believe that I still have it.” And Ted walked out of the mirror with the secret chest, that he didn’t have before he entered.

“Amazing!” said Ted to the warlock. “I’ll go home now.”
“No! I’m a warlock! I keep all the world’s secrets!” said the warlock.
“Why, yes, you do.” said Ted. “But, only if you teach me your magic.”
“How dare you!” Yelled the warlock who raised his wand. But, Ted blocked it with the secret chest. The warlock sobbed. He was turned into a frog. “Okay, I’ll teach you my magic. Just turn me back.”  And the wizard taught him all his magic, and Ted flew back to his house and put down the big chest. “What an adventure!” said Ted.
A little while later, Ted passed by a wandering merchant.
“Would you like to sell your secret?” asked the merchant.
  “No.” said Ted, and smiled. “This secret is mine, and it has gotten me all the magic and collections of the land.”

“What is it worth to you?” asked the salesman.
“Everything.” said Ted. “It took me sixty-one weeks to find, and the nun couldn’t help me get it back. I freed the willows, and learned magic to get it back.”
“What about some gold?” The man asked.
Ted nodded finally. “I can use gold. You can have the chest, but not the secret.” Ted took the gold, and the merchant laughed.
“Deal!” But, he looked inside for the secret and saw nothing.
And Ted went home happily, with his secret inside his head.