Emily Neves- Reflection

While often explored in my writing, the theme of loneliness wasn’t what I originally intended for this piece. I wanted it to feel like a quirky adventure, 
which I believe it is in some parts, until I realized what I was writing about: despite the fact the narrator lives with their Grandmother, they are isolated. 
They mention how the Grandparents often threw these lavish, busy parties in their youth, but after the death of the Grandfather, the social life of the narrator 
has dwindled. I don’t think they even realize this until the end: who do they contact outside of the Grandmother, who depends entirely on the narrator? The areas 
in this underground area are quiet and isolated themselves: a field of wheat maintained by a bread-making robot, not used in years- a single bridge, tall and elegant,
but not used by the mycelium themselves- and a city, though populated, is quiet- only one of the mycelium can talk, and while he has a lot to say, the journey for the 
protagonist is a quiet one. Death is also a major theme- with mushrooms only being able to grow out of dead or decaying things. The two major character deaths- the 
father and grandfather- both act as turning points for the mother and narrator, respectively. The different ways in which they dealt with grief is important to note.

But there is a third theme here- self-care. The narrator had to grow up quickly, with the absence of both of their parents, and from a young age couldn’t understand their 
own anger. It wasn’t until their Grandparents showed them care and love that they began to calm down. We can see the narrator extend this kindness to the mycelium. 
In my mind, the narrator only knows how to take care of people on a surface level- the Grandmother showed them physical kindness after the instance with the glasses 
(described in one of the logs in the Lair) and as such, the narrator returns that gift to her. And through the adventure with the mycelium, the narrator learns to 
trust themselves to be emotionally caring as well. That’s why, when the narrator meets the mother in the ending, they have the chance to either subside their emotions 
or become angry- to me, both are acceptable answers. They are mature enough to explicate both those feelings in a reasonable way.

I think the reason I didn’t intend to explore loneliness when I first started was because I hadn’t realized how isolated I was this year. I consider myself an introverted 
person, so when the pandemic first happened, I wasn’t too bothered. This is a lie I’ve told myself for about fourteen months now- that isolation suits me. Soon I’ve come to
 realize that isolation suits no one, and the effects of which hurt the soul on a deeper level. I think self-care is an important part of this story, as it’s important to me- 
 learning to take care of myself, by myself, has been challenging. Writing has always been my way of understanding the world, my emotions, and some of the unexplainable things 
 in my life. And through learning to code, I feel like I can express myself to a level unforeseen before. I hope this small, interactive fiction piece alleviates some of the 
 stressful loneliness that comes with being locked in a house, looking for the company of sentient, artificial fungi.