1 A very normal farmer
Normality. It was a strange concept, whereby the norm would be the envisionment of the majority. This means that the minority becomes abnormal. To stray from the norm is to be a failure, the outcast of society. A Heretic.
Jeffrey is a farmer.
No last name though, I'm not important enough to have one.
A very normal farmer.
Looking around his farm he couldn't help but think about the past.
His father like Jeffrey was also a very normal farmer, and they used to work on these farmlands together, father and son.
"Sigh," Jeffrey couldn't help but reminisce about those times.
Now, it was just Jeffrey working these lands alone, it was tiring work.
As sweat dripped down Jeffrey's forehead, he remembered when his father would dunk some water on him and tell him to get some rest. Also to get a wife…
What an unreasonable father.
Today was market day at the village nearby, and Jeffrey was determined to do what his father had failed in.
Jeffrey had kept a 'social profile' and 'mingled' a lot on all market days and he was sure that his plan would work eventually. As long as he kept at it, it should be alright. All of his problems had been solved through persistence and perseverance so going by that logic, his goal is bound to be achieved at some point.
Granted Jeffrey's problems were what the upper class would consider mundane or beneath them, perhaps.
Anyhow, Jeffrey pushed those thoughts out of his mind and started cleaning himself up.
He couldn't go to the market day smelling like swine after a long night.
Packing some goods onto his cart to sell at the market day, he attached his horse to it and seated himself on the horse.
No saddle though. Saddles are too expensive for a normal farmer such as me.
Setting off early, the village was a fair distance away from Jeffrey's, very normal, very humble abode.
Around three hours away at walking pace.
So off he went. With his horse trotting at a moderate pace, Jeffrey knows better than to overwork his poor horse on a long journey, whilst also hauling quite the heavy load in his opinion.
Looking around at the natural scenery, it was peaceful, Jeffrey liked looking at things as he travelled past them.
As such, he decided to take the scenic route today, which was around an hour longer than normal.
On his way to the village though, whilst looking around. He spotted a large spot in the distance.
It seemed to also be heading in the direction of the village.
"Hmm, probably a cloud or somethin'," Jeffrey deduced, with his superb problem solving skills.
Anyway, nothing much happened on his way to the village if you discount the sooty smell wafting through the air. Nothing suspicious at all.
Finally seeing the village, he could see smoke billow into the sky as the stench of piss and ash filled his nostrils. As well as a strange metallic smell.
Deducing that there must have been a fire at the local blacksmith or something or other, he entered the small village entrance.
But looking around. Houses were turned to ash and trampled upon. Scorch marks were indented in the ground but most noticeable of all, were the corpses of many different people of all age groups, whether they be the young or the elderly lay littered across the town.
And at the middle of it sat a dragon, well Jeffrey couldn't tell it was a dragon but it was a dragon nonetheless.
Its red, triangular scales shimmered in the sunlight.
It was faced away from Jeffrey and seemed to be eating something.
It must be something really, very nice for it to be so engrossed in the act of consumption, Jeffrey thought. Staring at the dragon.
However, unlike Jeffrey, his horse couldn't take the pressure anymore and flailed trying to leave the village.
"Ay, ay, calm down horsie, everythin's alright," Jeffrey miserably tried to calm his horse.
Needless to say, this ruckus attracted the attention of the dragon and it slowly turned its long neck over to the ruckus.
"Ah, shite," Jeffrey muttered as the dragon slowly shifted its behemoth of a body around to face Jeffrey.
