Part 7 of "For Havenkeep", my Patreon interactive story. Poles are posted to my patreon for patrons to decide on outcomes. The story is updated shortly after poles end. The story is free to the public - but is posted first and foremost to my patreon. If you like what you see and want to see as its made, please join or follow my Patreon. My Patreon can be found here: https://www.patreon.com/springfallendeer

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The choice is made: You’ll bring Alisra along


Risks of upsetting your parents aside, you realize that there really wouldn’t be any issue with bringing your sister along. Alisra is young and she is small. Her weight is nothing in your grasp and by now she’s learned not to hold your neck too tight when you carry her. So you decide that you may as well bring her with you. You allow yourself a moment to adjust her in your grasp so that you can keep one arm free during the walk. You shift her small body to the side to balance her on your hip. With your arm now freed it’ll be much easier to leave the house.

“Alright, Ali. You can stay with me today.” You hum, brushing your sister’s hair out of her eyes whilst you attempt to tidy it up a bit. She offers a disgruntled sound in turn, obviously a little moody just after waking up.
“But we’re not going out for chores just yet. I’m going for a walk down to the river. So if you come along, you have to promise not to tell mommy and daddy, alright?” You quietly utter, urging your sister to play along with you for the time being. Honestly, even if your parents found out about this little trip after the fact - and they most likely would - it wouldn’t be the end of the world. The worst you could expect would be a few extra chores and a slightly earlier curfew. Neither of which would bother you all that much, especially with their temporary nature. You watch as Alisra attempts to rub the sleepiness out of her slightly puffy eyes. She at least has enough sense about her to nod in response to your request, letting you know that she’ll at least attempt to keep this secret from your parents.

With the matter settled for the time being, you begin the “tedious” journey out of the house. Really the only issue with sneaking out was the actual sneaking. You could only move so discreetly while carrying around a tiny person. Your parents could be heard talking in the kitchen. So you sneak by them, allowing yourself only a moment to peek into the kitchen as you do so. Your mother was getting ready to make breakfast, standing with her back so you, allowing you to sneak by unnoticed. Your father was sitting in his chair at the head of the table with a warm drink in hand to help him relax. His back was also to you, meaning that he also did not notice as you snuck by.

His chores had him up much earlier than you or your sister. So this was his break after all of the hard work that he had been doing throughout the early hours before the sun. He would have breakfast with your mother then lie down for a nap. That was usually how the mornings went in your home. So you would have plenty of time to sneak out to the river and back with Alisra. Chances are your parents would not even be aware of the fact that you had taken your sister out of the house until after you had gotten back to start on your chores. So theoretically you were in the clear. Sneaking out of the house was easy enough. You were able to slip through the front door without making enough noise to be heard over your parents' idle chatter.

Having made it outside, you’re free to travel however you wish. You start for the path that leads down to the river. You and your family had made the trip many times in the past, as had many other families in the town. Honestly, you wouldn’t be surprised to happen across someone else from town along the way. Particularly because this was the time of year where the trees had bushes had started to bear fruit. Apples, peaches, blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries would all be easy enough to find. The blackberries in particular tended to spread like weeds, so it was not uncommon for someone from the town to head out to cut back the brambles. All of this at least assured that you’d be able to fend off hunger when it inevitably came.

Your way to the path starts at the edge of the family field, where a thick patch of barren soil finds itself abruptly transformed into dense woodland. Plenty of ferns and grasses line the forest floor. The trees grow tightly packed together, leaving enough space for someone to duck and weave between them if caution was taken. To attempt to run through the woods off of the path would almost guarantee a face full of splinters. As you start onto the path to the river, you chance yourself a look at Alisra. She seems to be more awake than she was before. Her wide eyes eagerly scan the sides of path, makin it obvious that she’s already on the lookout for the sweet berries that were known to grow there.

Her hair is still a bit of a mess. Overall she’s clearly got enough sense about her that you could let her walk beside you if you grew tired of carrying her. Right now she did not seem to care if you continued to carry her, but chances were that she would squirm to be put down the instant that you happened upon a berry bush - which would happen sooner than later.

Should you just put her down now, or would you rather wait until she wants to walk?