L.A.M. Short Story I: A King, A Boy and the Terrible Three Monsters

In a time long ago, in the land of far far away, there was kingdom that was under siege by 3 monsters.

In the Northern Plains, Medusa petrified every assassin who was sent to kill it.

In the East Sea, a Siren viciously drowned and devoured every soldier who ventured into her territory.

And in the West Forest, the last monster was said to be so terrifying that even the most courageous of warriors would flee before he saw the monster's face.

Because of the presence of these 3 monsters, all trade with the kingdom came virtually to a halt, with the only viable trade route to the South of the kingdom, via a mountainous terrain.

Faced with a soon to be starving population, the king looked far and wide and emptied half the Royal Treasury in search of a brave warrior who could defeat the terrible three. Despite his expansive search, there was no such warrior to be found.

Finally, on one unassuming day, a teenage boy came to the king's throne room and explained to the king's court that he had a solution. 

The king looked at the boy in contempt and wondered what possible solution this young mind could conceive that would solve his problems once and for all.

Despite his skepticism, the king listened to the boy and gave him the mandate to search for the 3 warriors who would save the kingdom.

The boy promptly went about the kingdom, looking not in the taverns or the barracks but on the streets where the number of beggars grew with each day.

After a week of searching, the boy had established his hunting party, an unremarkable motley made up of a blind man, a deaf man and a lame man.

The boy sent the blind man to the North to face the terrifying Medusa who could petrify anyone who dared so much as glanced at her eyes. Unfortunately for Medusa, her powers held no sway over the blind man who beheaded her and opened up the trade paths to the North.

Against the Siren, the boy pit the deaf man whose deafness prevented him from falling for the charms of the Siren's song. The Siren sang and sang until her voice grew hoarse but could not hypnotize the deaf man to throw himself on the rocks and drown himself. When the deaf man reached the Siren, he stabbed her in the heart, ending once and for all the threat to the East Sea.

And to the West, the boy pushed the lame man in a wheelbarrow and dropped him off at the edge of the forest just before nightfall. 

As the light of the Sun faded away, the lame man, now alone in the forest was gripped with fear. However unlike the warriors who came before him, he had no ability to flee. Faced with no other choice, he stood vigilant waiting for the unnamed foe who would come to defeat him. 

He waited, his hands clasping firmly on his weapon of choice, a mace. He waited for what seemed to be hours until the rays of the Sun shone through the foliage and it was day again.

It was then that he realized that the last of the three monsters, the most terrifying of the lot is nothing but a myth, a rumour that sprang up when the two other monsters appeared and it took someone who had no ability to flee to dispel it.

And so, the day is saved, thanks to three unremarkable warriors and a boy whom everyone overlooked.

Needless to say, the kingdom prospered and it's citizens lived happily ever after. 

L.A.M.

P.S: I'm sure there is a moral in this story somewhere but I'll leave it to the reader to give his/her interpretation in the comment section below.