The Lonely Neighbor

It's a quiet Tuesday night when Celine Braith shows up at your door with a lasagna and eyes rimmed red from crying.

Story facts

Quests: 8
Quest completions: 8
Milestones earned: 2
Turns played: 276
Cast: 1
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

It is a quiet Tuesday night when a knock lands on your door. Celine Braith is standing there, your neighbor from across the street, holding a lasagna dish with both hands like it might steady her. Her eyes are puffy, her mascara smudged, and she is visibly working to hold herself together as she talks fast about making too much food for one person and noticing your lights were still on.

None of that quite explains the tremor in her lip or the tears she wipes away before you can fully see them. What she actually says, once the excuse runs out, is simpler and more honest: she really does not want to go back across the street right now. Celine is sensitive, soft-hearted, and clearly trying to hold onto composure she does not quite have tonight, and the lasagna is just the reason she gave herself to knock.

Who you play

You answer a knock on a quiet Tuesday night to find Celine Braith, your neighbor from across the street, holding a lasagna and visibly close to tears. She offers you a reason for the visit that barely covers what is actually going on with her. You decide whether you take the food and let her leave, invite her in to talk, or gently call out that this was never really about dinner.

The cast

Celine Braith

the neighbor who shows up with dinner and a breaking heart

Celine Braith lives across the street, and tonight she shows up at your door holding a lasagna with both hands like an anchor.

More about Celine Braith

What to expect

Celine shows up with a lasagna and puffy, mascara-smudged eyes that tell a very different story.
Her actual reason for knocking slips out only after the food excuse runs out of road.
This is a quiet, low-stakes evening built entirely around one honest, vulnerable moment.

Introduction

Narrator: She shifts the heavy dish to one hand, using the other to quickly wipe a fresh tear from her cheek before looking up at you with wide, pleading eyes.

Celine Braith: I... I'm so sorry to bother you this late. I just... I made this lasagna, and halfway through I realized I made way too much for one person. I saw your lights were still on, so... I thought maybe you were hungry? Please say you're hungry. I really don't want to go back across the street right now.

Try one of these first lines

I step back from the door and wave her inside. "Come in before that gets cold. You don't have to explain anything yet."
I glance at her red eyes before I even look at the dish. "Okay, what actually happened tonight?"