This had a very good story buildup. The language is beautifully written with only a few minor grammatical errors here and there. I liked the varying choices between the siblings, which could risk wasting time and causing the rot to spread even further. The characters were all beautifully described, and I think the themes of what each character represented fits exceptionally well with the theme of the game jam.

I also appreciate your little message at the end of the game. I could really see this as some sort of small animation of sorts or even a book series. And, if given more time for art and sound effects, the game could have an even bigger impact from the visuals. But I understand that the primary focus of this jam was the writing part lol. And I think you succeeded with that very well.

My only suggestion is putting parts of your story, especially the introduction, into smaller, more digestible pieces for the player to read. Sometimes, if there's too much text, a player could be disinterested and try to skim a bit to try and get to the game portion of your story. Which I think would suck because your story writing is really neat and very original. The song fit as well and it didn't feel overwhelming or unwelcoming at all. Very VERY nice job on this one!

what an interesting story, i loved the concept and the worldbuilding in this! at first i though it began rather quickly, and the ending was a bit abrupt as well, but the pacing in the middle section was great. there was a nice balance of story and choices, and the characters had distinct personalities that made sense for them. 

i played this few times to see how my choices would affect things. i really liked having them as a player, even if it felt like the sacrifice one was the only with clear consequences. i assume how long you take to deal with the rot also affects something though? i wonder if there's a possibility to get a secret third option in the sacrifice choice like the text implied? i tried to make bad choices to see if something would happen, but it was difficult balancing that with keeping the rot under 10. when you fail to free your siblings you have to go back and forth several times to (i assume) trigger the conditions for freeing them, but when the rot level reaches 10 you can't do anything anymore or go anywhere. i assume this means you failed but perhaps an ending screen of some kind would make sense here? if it's not a broken connector issue, that is.

in any case, this felt like something that could be expanded into a longer game for both the worldbuilding and the game mechanics to shine more. i really enjoyed this!

I got a good ending, but it wasn't too clear to me how or why? Good read though. The Millow/Willow thing was distracting to my wee mind!