This story is an interactive narrative created for 21L.489J, a literature and writing class at MIT. It was written by freshman Katharyn Jeffreys, and any questions can be directed at her via E-mail.

This page is intended for children and will allow them to navigate through a day as a mouse in the Boston Subway System. They will be able to follow business men, shoppers, patients, and students to their destinations, and listen in on what they have to say. The mouse is on a hunt for French cheese, and people gave him clues (indirectly) along the way. That way the child is not just clicking along randomly. Help your child decide where he/she might find the cheese by thinking anout the hints given.

The story begins with an introduction to the main character as he wakes up at one of the T stops. He then can go on the T (following people), get off the T, at some places go outside and see what is in Boston, sit in the station (perhaps listening to musicians, napping, or whatever), or switch lines (when appropriate). Each link leads to another page that is one hour later in the day, as indicated by a clock. The day runs from 8 AM to 6 PM.

At the end of the day, the child can return to morning, the next day, and try again. While there is no "correct answer", the ideal goal is to find French cheese in the shortest amount of time. Feel free to explore various paths with the child.

To navigate the site, click on the underlined links. Some links will take you to pages with more information that you can use in your journey. Others take you to a new train station, an hour later in time. Some of the images are linked, and these links attribute the source of the picture.

Finally, if you want to see if you and your child have explored every possible avenue, go to the list of pages. If the link is purple, you have been to that page.

 Ready to go?