1 Crappy Then, Crappy Now

Thomas tapped his fingers on the counter, the evening rush of his shift at Fastways had finally wound down. He gazed out at the convenience store shelves a boring sight he'd grown tired of. 25 years old and still stuck here with nothing to show for it. At least I have my MMO Universe of Spellcraft to look forward to he thought to himself.

Thomas had planned on going to College after high school but he was never a very good student. Always procrastinating and dozing off in class he barely scraped by to graduation, and his family not being too well off meant his dreams of a higher education were gone before they could even begin.

Before his thoughts could wander some more his shift supervisor came bursting out of the men's room looking directly at Thomas.

"Gonna need you in here again Thomas..." his boss sputtered out of breath "Some moron smeared crap all over the bathroom." His boss coughed out the rest of his statement before half stumbling over behind the counter.

Great this again? This was the third time this month thought Thomas.

"K boss, I'll get right on it..." Thomas sighed before walking to the back and grabbing the cleaning supplies and heading towards the men's room. Thomas held his breath anticipating the foul stench he would be berated with once he opened the door. He rolled his eyes and swung open the bathroom door and paused to take in the horror before him. There was poop EVERYWHERE the walls, the stalls, the floors, the mirrors. If there was an exposed surface it had fecal matter affixed to it. How on earth could anyone have managed to have this much poop to work with Thomas paused completely shocked and horrified by what he witnessed. He thought about quitting right then and there but figured he was used to this by now and got ready to do what needed to be done.

As he walked towards the sink to start spreading mop water on the floor tragedy struck. It almost felt like slow motion as he felt his foot slip in the foul diarrhea-esque mixture on the floor, he felt his head slam into something hard as he fell into the feces covered stall. Before Thomas could fully register what had happened his vision blurred before fading to black and losing consciousness completely.

Thomas, utterly disoriented, began to see a white light far in the distance. Did I just die in a pool of shit? Thomas wondered as he began to walk towards the light this can't be the end I haven't even gotten to play the new expansion I just bought. I wonder what my parents will think when they hear what happened to me? Oh God what will my friends think? His thoughts racing from one thing to the next he was bombarded with anxiety. He tried to push the thoughts from his mind. Given how he died he decided he was better off forgetting about it as he moved on to what he believed to be the afterlife.

After what felt like an eternity Thomas neared the light but quickly realized it wasn't a light at all, nor had he been walking. What Thomas thought was a light was actually the sun in the sky and the darkness surrounding it had begun to fade as he got closer. He was so lost in his thoughts worrying about the circumstances of his death he hadn't even noticed. The foul aroma of poo ungraciously wafted through his nostrils, his face scrunched at the realization. I'm ALIVE! He thought before he realized it should've been the light of the bathroom not the sun he now saw before him. Thomas shot up taking in his surroundings. He was no longer in the bathroom anymore, he appeared to be on some sort of farm surrounded by mushrooms. Wait mushrooms? "Just where the hell am I" Thomas exclaimed. Utterly perplexed as to how he was not only somewhere else but somehow very much alive.

Looking around some more he saw a trail leading towards some unsuspecting woods, and despite his very loud exclamation there didnt seem to be anyone living. Given then somewhat derelict state of the farmhouse nearby he wasn't surprised.

He carefully inspected himself for any injuries, whatever blow to the head that had delivered him here, wherever here is, was no longer there, and he appeared to be wearing some sort of brown cloak and a tall pointy hat. Strange this reminds of the mages from the game I used to play he thought to himself. "well time to figure out what the heck is going on" Thomas said aloud before setting off in the direction of the woods.

As Thomas approached the woods he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched not from the woods, but from the farm. Thomas shook off the sensation and read the sign at the entrance of the woods pointing north indicating a town called Fernworth should be at the end of said trail.

Unsure of what else to do he set off into the woods in hopes of finding someone who could give him some sort of answers.