A Regrettable Fall

The fabled blade was cold to the touch and dyed a bright silver in the small slices of moonlight peering out of holes in the water dripping ceiling. Behind it, a clean waterfall tumbled on with loud roars that pierced the silence like a bullet. The whole area was celestial and looked as if it had been pulled out of a grand fairy tale of sorts. And then a small boy, with his ragged worn clothes, his sloppy and unkempt hair and one shoe half on his foot, stepped forward. Looking around the area he inched forward with careful movements. Holes in the dusty ground, deep and dark, stared up at him hungrily and threatened to swallow him up if only the boy misplaced one foot for a second long moment, but he passed without more than a glance at the creaking wooden holes. Soon, he was by the sword, and took this opportunity to stretch and lift the top of the glass case that protected the weapon. He then enfolded his hands around the thick handle and tensed.

For an instant, the legendary sword seemed to ease into his grip as if it were already at home with him, as if it were encouraging him on. He picked it up from the open glass case with almost no challenge at all, but his weak figure could not help but stagger over the surprising weight when he triumphantly held it high above his head. He swayed, clutching the sword to his chest, tripping over his own feet with every step backwards. From a distance it may have resembled an odd, ungraceful dance. The boy stayed like this for quite a while, stumbling around blindly while tightly holding the grand sword, until he made one wrong movement. That movement was all it took to change his fate. His foot leaned down as he shifted his weight in the expectation of a sturdy wooden plank but instead found nothingness beneath him. He fell forward, headfirst, and his head hit against the ground quickly. Instead of him falling into the unknown depths, the blade took his place, slipping through his fingers on impact and piercing into the void. The boy cried out in both pain and misery that he had lost his treasure and shakily came to his feet with much trouble.  He left that place forever, not able to face the reality that he had lost the gift because of one simple fall.