UN- Fortunate

I was going to name this “Short stories for pessimists, Vol. 1

(Warning, rough draft. )
Devlin always tried to help his mother. He wasn’t old enough to start an apprenticeship yet. He tried to do as much around the farm as possible though. Ever since their father went to set sail for the king, he hadn’t been home as much as he used to. As the captain of the ship, he knew the extra money his father brought home would be helpful in having a better life. One that would heat the cottage more often than a day or two a week. Any day now his dad would be home telling him of his adventures. His dad a promised a new story this time. Teasing it may be a story about a princess. His father had also hinted that this time he may have a pig to roast. He felt his stomach grumbling at the very thought.
It was a fine morning when he finished his chores, racing through each of them so he could have time to play. Perhaps do a little adventuring through the old wood. His mom had always warned him to be careful and not wander too far into the old growth where he could get lost or worse. He didn’t quite know what the worse could be. She never would bother to tell him. She would merely get teary eyed at the subject and just tell him to mind. His imagination ran wild with all sorts of ideas that ended with him wanting to be off. What if he found a place where no one had ever gone before? What if he could find something new? The sense of adventure would often keep him awake at nights contemplating the discoveries.
He had heard stories about children going missing during the night. A story held that bad children who entered the wood never returned. He always minded his parents. He didn’t want to take any chances. Today he had found an opening within the thick, gnarled branches. One he hadn’t remembered seen before. What looked like a cave entrance sat at the bottom of a large hill. It looked big enough for an animal to sleep in. At first he was wary of anything inside that may attack him. It wasn’t the season for any animals to be hibernating, so he threw rocks inside the hole at a safe distance. Nothing happened. He got a bit braver and found a large tree branch that he used to prod inside the hole. Either the back of the cave was much bigger than he thought, or it was empty.
He found that if he crouched down in a bent over stoop, he had plenty of space to enter. Peering inside he found only darkness. Light only filtered in so far. After that, he felt one of the sides of the caves to follow so he could find his way toward the back. The felt as if it were traveling downward. He didn’t want to go too far, but he didn’t think he could get lost if it were only a tunnel. He didn’t want to be in here too long. His hand felt the wall suddenly curve. It wasn’t a sharp corner. Past the turn, he saw that there was a bit of light being shone at the far end.
His curiosity aroused, he headed toward the small light. With another turn, found he could stand. Beyond lay a vast cavern with large specks of a glowing green on the walls and ceiling giving the whole place an eerie feeling. Near the center lay a tiny cottage. It was dirty, and run down, but there it was. He had to stop and think on this for a bit. Of everything he had imagined, a cottage was not one of them. No lights appeared through the windows. Still keeping his distance, he slowly made his way around to the back. inside a pen were pigs wallowing about. They at least seemed to be enjoying themselves. They reminded him of the pigs they used to have.
Tied to a stake near the back door was a white swan. It was beautiful. Pure white with black feathers around the beak. It was looking altogether out of place. he looked around again. No one seemed to be around. The swan didn’t make any noise. It looked at the boy with his head cocked to the side. the swan was sitting upon a nest of straw, Getting closer, he could see that the swan was tide to a post with a thick rope. the swan didn’t rush toward him or make any noise. Maybe it was the tricks of shadows, but the swan seemed to be sitting on something golden. He knew what gold looked like even though he had never felt it. Taking a step foreword, he reached out to pet the swan. The swan bowed its head to accept the kindness.
“How long have you been down here” Devlin smoothing the soft feathers on its head. He smiled hoping the swan would take this as a gesture that he wouldn’t hurt the swan.
“Do you want me to get out of here?” He couldn’t’ tell if the swan could understand him, although the swan dipped his head a fraction.
“Okay, let me untie you then you can come with me”
He walked over to the post and found the thick rope tied so tight the knot wouldn’t budge. Searching around the back door for something sharp, he found a saw. With some work, he cut the thick dirty rope. From somewhere off in the distance, he heard a noise.
He couldn’t place the noise, and he didn’t want to find out what made it. Grabbing the rope, he made to pick up the egg. It was too heavy for him to carry. Even with both hands it would impede him from walking, let alone slowing him down too much to push it. The swan was now tugging at the rope. Sensing that the swan knew it was time to leave and not wanting to be drug through the mud floor, he followed the swan.
He had to jog just to keep up. The swan was struggling to be off through the tunnel. Crouching down at the exit, entering the darkness, a door slammed and a gut wrenching scream echoed throughout the cavern. Something guttural that sent shivers down his spine. He could feel the tears well up as he tried to run. Although he couldn’t see, he found if he kept right behind the swan, he wouldn’t run into the sides. If this swan truly was a magical creature, he would know the way back to his home. He soon saw light from the entrance. Struggling to run in a crouching position his legs were exhausted. He hadn’t known how far down he had gone, but the sun was farther down than it had been before he started. He would have to explain where he had been to his mom. He hoped she wasn’t too worried.
He had to shield his eyes from the brightness of the sun. There was a rumbling echoing out from the cave entrance. Whatever was living there was now following him! He looked at the swan and didn’t know what to do. The swan looked at the opening. The monster made a noise that reverberated within the boy’s chest. The ground shook, and the cave entrance collapsed with half the hill sliding down in front of the cave throwing boulders and trees where the entrance had been. He stroked the swan’s head.
“Was that you? He didn’t know and frankly didn’t care at the moment. He was safe.
“Well, Thanks for saving me. You want to come home With me?” honking, the swan nodded. He would have to explain this to his mom. If his mom believed the swan were truly magical, he knew he wouldn’t be in trouble. He found the trail back toward the cottage. It didn’t take long for him to find the opening in the trees. As soon as he got to the front yard, his mother shot out of the front door.
“What have you been doing? Were you in the forest again? And where did you get that?” she stopped to hug him. She was about to swat him but he cried out. The swan stepped in between them. Breen stopped with an angry looking scowl. One that told him he better explain. Or else
He began to tell his mom the whole story. Her eyes became slits and he could tell that she still wasn’t pleased at him. He quickly mentioned the golden egg. Her eyes suddenly went wide.
“Truly? You saw a golden egg?” He then told her the rest of the story.
Afterward when he finished she patted the body of the swan.
“Then you are to be rewarded. What is it you eat I wonder?” the swan merely looked at them. “Well, we can find some water. There wasn’t anything laying around in the cave that looked like food?”
“No. And I couldn’t tell how long she was down there either.”
Breen nodded absently looking curiously down at the swan.
“Go get some water. I’m sure she likes grubs or worms.”
Soon, the swan was drinking water. But whatever they put out in front of the swan to eat, the swan merely looked away with no interest of eating. Soon they began to search for anything. Vegetable, soups, pieces of meat. Nothing they put in front of the swan was uninterested in eating. As they had never heard of magical animals before, let alone stories of what they ate, they were getting quite desperate.
“We just need to keep looking for something the swan will eat. Only then will she lay an egg. They were trying everything. Moss, bugs, bread, even grasses and bits of different types of wood. An old horse Shu. At their wits end, even bits of metal from the smith. Nothing. That night they were trying to brainstorm. They had run out of ideas.
By nightfall Devlin hadn’t found anything the swan would eat. It had even stopped drinking water.
Breen was getting dubious about he golden egg. The boy assured her that it was there and that it had been too heavy to carry. Had he tried rolling the egg, he would have been caught by whatever it was that lived down there.
“Maybe it’s only a certain type of bug or something that’s only found in the woods. The swan has to live where no one ever goes, right? “
Breen realized that the only way to feed the swan was taking it out to the woods and let it find food for itself.
“It’s settled then. Tomorrow at first light, we’ll walk the swan into the woods. Once we find out what she likes, we can stockpile it up for her.”
“And while we are out there, I can show you where the cave was. Maybe we could get back in and take the egg.”
Frowning, Breen put her hands on her hips.
“You were just telling me that half the hillside fell down on the entrance and an unknown monster lived down there and you want to go back in after you riled it all up? I don’t think so. Besides, who says the thing is still in there?”
He knew it would be pointless to argue with her. The fact of the matter was feeding the swan was the most important job. Once she started laying golden eggs, there would be no reason to fight ever again.
With a plan in mind, he heads to bed with thoughts of everything they were going to buy with all of the gold. A whole new life lay ahead for them. With the swan, they could have all of the gold they ever wanted. Then his dad could stay home. They would now be rich enough to afford their own castle.
Getting up earl, His mom said chores could wait. She told him to grab his pack and fill it with food. That she would go out back and grab the swan.
As the boy filled his pack and headed outside, Breen met him in the kitchen. Sitting down she put an arm out catching his shoulder. Looking him in the eye, she Shook her head.
“There’s no longer a ned to make a trip into the woods. I’m sorry but during the night, the swan passed away.”
Shocked, he fell into the chair. He could feel tears well up in his eyes.
At least his father would soon be home. Then they could tell him a story. Any day now and he would be back home..