The Unluckiest Boy In The World

"The giants are coming!"

The shepherd's febrile shouts aroused the sleepy village to immediate action. Parents grabbed young children and ran for the underground shelter. Soldiers mounted the hamlet wall, pikes in hand.

Herman gazed at the pandemonium from the imposed security of the bell tower. He was well known as the unluckiest boy ever to be born. He was not allowed to fight the giants, not allowed to talk to anyone else, never even allowed to set foot outside the sacred grounds.

Herman watched the villagers without resentment. "Better to be unlucky than to fight giants with tiny sticks."