It was the average hot humid day, the waters of the swamp were as still as ever as small frogs laid quietly on the wrinkled lily pads.
Andrew sat on his chair, staring out at the hazy blue sky with not a single cloud in sight. He daydreamed of himself eating popsicles on the side of a beach, pitying himself for having to fish out in the hot sunny morning to fill his empty stomach.
"Man, how long has it been since I've been out here!? It's hot as hell out and now every fish hates me? Man life sure is cruel" Andrew whined.
But it was true, Andrew had been in the swamp fishing for quite a while without seeing any life in the waters. He was one unlucky man, not just in this situation but for most of his life. He was born an orphan as his parents abandoned him, he was adopted into another rich prominent family but after a few years of living there, at the age of 4, the family collapsed into bankruptcy and he was forced to move out into another family.
He was moved into the Richards family, they were quite poor but fortunately had a stable business hunting monsters and selling their corpses. Sadly, Andrew never got to join the family business due to his weak body. You see, every human in this world is born with average stats but Andrew wasn't even below average and actually weaker than the weak.
His parents still treated him as if he were their own son but his siblings didn't really like having a weakling around. So to contribute to the family business Andrew started a fishing business but so far he hadn't gotten much money out of it and was doubting whether or not he should just give up.
Clenching his fist, Andrew shook his head.
"No! I will not give up just yet! I will become a person of some importance so that I can make my parents proud!" Andrew pounded his chest in pride.
But then sighed, he was still stuck fishing out in the heat with no fish in sight. This depressed Andrew even more as he slouched down on his chair and closed his eyes.
"Oh great lady Luck, Please bestow me with your great fortune and prominence so I too can live a great, boony life!" With one small tear running down his cheek, Andrew begged the gods to be changed into a new man.
But it seemed Lady Luck had no interest in concerning herself with such an unfortunate soul because Andrew continued to sit out in the heat for hours.
"What a life, may I ever live on to make my future seed proud?" Andrew swung his fishing rod to the side in anger and then suddenly.
Ting!
In a moment of silence, a brilliant bell rang across the water and into Andrew's ear. Andrew jumped up in the excitement and started reeling in what he had unexpectedly caught. The fish he caught didn't put up a fight at all which confused Andrew. He kept reeling in the fish, eyes staring crazily at the dark brownish-green waters not able to see what kind of fish he had caught.
He saw a round silhouette as he started reeling it out of the water and then he took the fish out but it wasn't a fish.
"An egg!? Oh, what is my luck?" Andrew smacked his head and slouched once again on his chair.
He then took it out of the water and onto his small wooden fishing boat.
"Hm, it's pretty big though. I wonder what type of creature would lay such a large egg?" Andrew thought to himself and then thought. "Welp, I guess I can at least eat this egg for breakfast. Although maybe I can sell it for some money, either way, it won't be much money since I have the worst of luck" Andrew scratched his head sadly and rowed his boat to the shoreline of the swamp.
After carrying his things out of his boat, Andrew tied up the boat against a tree with a leather string. Then he walked into the forest, carrying his rod on his back and hands clutching onto his large egg, Andrew made it into a small creek.
A mossy stone path ran along the side of the creek and led up into a worn-out wooden shack which was Andrew's living quarters.
He had been renting for some while for very cheap, it was well than enough for Andrew to live in. He opened a small door and had to bend down to go through, entering a lovely abode. It wasn't much but it was a very humble environment.
Andrew put away his fishing rod and his bait and grabbed the large egg he had caught.
"Hm, to make the most out of this egg I should wait a little longer, for now, I should go take a nap," Andrew thought to himself.
He perched the egg on top of a cabinet and slid himself into his sleeping bag, after some time he drifted into a profound sleep. He was a little kid now and was walking with an old man down a dirt road.
Many carriages passed by as they walked, but nothing more. Andrew just walked with the old man, then he raised his head at the elder and asked.
"Where are we going?".
The elder kept walking as if Andrew never asked, but Andrew cared to ask again and trotted off behind the old man. He bit his lip in nervousness and asked once again.
"Where are we going?".
No response. Andrew debated whether the old man could hear at all and tugged on his shirt, the old man looked back for a moment. He had a genuine look when he turned his head but the moment he set his eyes on Andrew he cringed in disgust and yanked his arm out of Andrew's grasp.
"Weakling".
Andrew felt a darkness creep from behind him, a dark hand reached out onto his shoulder. He looked back to see a malevolent dark shadow with a twisted expression on its face, it signaled with its hand to come towards it.
Andrew stared at it in horror, he fell down to the floor.
"Get back!" Andrew shouted.
The dark shadow never moved at all, it just smiled at Andrew with a perverted look. Tears ran down Andrews's cheeks, he didn't want to hurt anyone.
"I said get back!".
…
A warm hand pressed against Andrews's cheek, he felt something licking him. Andrew slowly opened his eyes, tears ran down his face but he didn't know why.
"A bad dream?" Andrew asked himself, not remembering the nightmare he had just dreamt.
He looked up at a small cat licking his cheek, he froze. He wasn't frightened but was confused about how a cat got into his house, he lived pretty far from the village so it was strange to find such a creature here in the creek not to mention inside his house.
The cat had shiny white fur and two small white horns in between its cat ears. The cat was very strange looking indeed but Andrew had seen stranger creatures before so he didn't mind its appearance.
His stomach growled, Andrew smiled in excitement. It was time to eat the egg! He got up from his sleeping bag and looked back at the cabinet where he put the egg on, his excited face then changed in pure depression.
He looked back at the small cat which had fallen asleep on his sleeping bag.
"Fuck the gods" A tear ran down Andrews's face in utter depression.