365 days after a wizard cursed the REALM…
Current Version:
It was Father’s Day in Wordler Village, a day of brunches and barbecues. Many of the Wordlers worried about being picked for the quest and having to spend the day away from their families. But Glinis wasn’t worried. In fact, she had volunteered for the duty.
“Arise, Wordler 365,” said the QUEEN, bestowing the title upon the land’s latest volunteer.
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” said 365, rising from her kneeling position, “and thank you, citizens of Wordler Village, for entrusting me with this duty.” She surveyed the crowd, which included many families gathered around a man sporting a gaudy new tie or tugging at the sleeves of a lopsided hand-knit sweater.
“Your family must be very proud,” said the QUEEN.
“I’m sure they are,” 365 agreed. She had an idea where her mother and brothers were standing, but was deliberately looking anywhere and everywhere else.
“You will head north on foot—” the QUEEN started.
“Wait,” said 365. “I was planning to go south.”
“North,” the QUEEN insisted. “I have a feeling about it.”
“Yes, your Majesty,” 365 sighed.
To the north, at the edge of the village, the road passed by a cemetery. It was a cemetery that 365 hadn’t visited since, well, since she'd been there for a ceremony a few months before. She stood at the gate for a long while before walking through and sitting before one of the gravestones. “Happy Father’s Day,” she told the stone.
The stone said nothing back, of course.
“So. This is our first Father’s Day where we can’t be, you know, in person. I miss you, Daddy.” She sniffed and wiped her blurry eyes. “God, this is harder than I imagined. I was hoping to be far away and distracted by a quest, and yet here I am. So…how have you been?”
The stone said nothing back.
“I know, dumb question. Me, I’ve been all right. Sad. Angry sometimes. Frustrated with everyone being so sorry for my loss. ‘Sorry for your loss, sorry for your loss, sorry for your loss.’ They mean to be comforting but it just makes me feel like such a… Oh, I don’t even know. It’s like everyone keeps pointing out how a part of me has gone missing.”
The stone said nothing back.
“I should go,” said 365. “The QUEEN picked me for the quest today. Well, actually, I volunteered and she accepted. I'm Wordler 365 now. Remember how I used to dream about being on a quest to save the village? You said you were proud of me, and said you promised to make me one of those laurel crowns like champions used to wear in the old days. Remember?”
The stone said nothing back, but a large black bird flapped down from the trees and perched atop the monument. In its beak, it held a laurel branch.
365 blinked at the bird. “Were you sent by my father?” The bird dropped the branch and flew back up into the trees.
365 set to work making herself a crown. “I remember now something you used to say,” she told the gravestone. “Nothing is ever truly lost and no one ever truly goes away. They continue to exist, just in another form. I love you, Dad. Happy Father’s Day.”
Web3 Draft:
Revision Notes:
To be added.
