Journey's End

Dave Smith sat at his desk in his office typing He had a report to fill out, which was required by the next week. All it required was transferring information from one page to the next Dave hated it He hated his job He hated his boss He hated doing work which could have easily been automated There had been a chance to rise the ranks of the company, but that was quickly disappearing, as the owner ’ s son had just been given the new management position, despite his more than lacking resume Sick of mindlessly typing, Dave left the office as soon as his shift ended He did not say good-bye to his coworkers.

His drive home was just as uneventful as the rest of his day. He listened to music long since considered outdated, and he thought about his wife, Holly Married for twenty years, no matter how bad his day had been, she could always cheer him up As he pulled into his driveway, next to his wife’s car, he thought about the night’s dinner and what he should make As he entered his home, Holly enthusiastically called to him, “Hi honey, how was your day?”

“It was fine,” he replied “How was yours?”

“Oh, it was great, I’ve been teaching the kids in my class addition And by the way, the letter you were waiting for came! Maybe today will be the day!” she exclaimed

Dave knew what she was talking about Behind the face of a man bored by his job, was a man who loved writing. He just didn’t seem to be that skilled about it. For years he had been sending manuscripts of his work to publishers For years he had been collecting rejections He sat down at their kitchen table, and she placed the unopened letter in front of him. He didn’t want to open it.

“You’ll have to open it sometime today,” his wife stated

He stared at it for another second, and then he picked it up, opened it, and read it Another rejection to add to the list. Holly could see his sadness. “I’m sorry, I know how hard you worked on this one Maybe the next one will do well ”

“I think I’m done, after this,” he replied.

“Don’t say that You can’t just give up, ” she said “I have an idea On the way home from work I saw an advertisement for a fantasy world building conference tonight. You should go Maybe you’ll learn something that can help you, and if not, you can at least make some friends ”

“Look, I don’t think this is a –“ he stated, before being cut off

“Just give it one shot, for me. ”

“Ok,” he said.

Following his wife’s instructions, Dave drove to the convention center the conference was being held. He parked outside and walked inside. He had no idea what to expect. This lack of expectation might be what contributed to Dave not reacting at all when what appeared to be a man with green scaly skin, more than abnormal proportions, and tentacles instead of arms walked past To put it lightly, Dave was confused He glanced at a sign near him, and noticed that while it mentioned worldbuilding, there was no mention of writing or novels. He looked inside the room, and only saw more eldritch like beings He thought it was a joke It wasn’t Remembering his promise to his wife, Dave entered the hall

One of the creatures looked at Dave as he walked toward them. “Hello there! You must be new here!” Dave heard from somewhere The things words came from no mouth and seemed to imprint themselves directly into his mind. “My name is Grejhitl, Eater of Worlds, but you can call me Greg ”

“Hi. I’m Dave,” Dave responded. “I’m here for the worldbuilding conference.”

“Well, you ’ re in the right place!” Greg seemed to shout “Please take a seat at the table ”

Dave glanced at the table, seeing a dozen other eldritch beasts waiting for him expectantly. Or at least, he though they were expectant. It was hard to judge the emotions of an eldritch beast older than the universe itself He finally made his way to the table and sat down After he and Greg had sat, the others at the table began to talk about themselves. Dave learned that they were a group of eldritch beasts who enjoyed creating new worlds together In an effort to attract others to join them, they had posted advertisements They were not expecting a human to join but were excited for the new friend. Dave in turn told them about why he had come, and his aspirations to be an author One spoke out loud, “It’s great to have you then! Let’s get started ”

And so began the most amazing brainstorming session Dave had ever been apart of They all suggested ideas for the new world As they made suggestions, a holographic image created by one of the beasts shifted and changed in front of them, forming a representation of the new world They created new plants, animals, and people to inhabit the world Dave, however, was apprehensive to help

“Why asked Greg

“I’m not sure if you want my help,” He replied “I’ve never actually published something; all my work has been rejected I’m not a good worldbuilder ”

Greg seemed to think for a moment, and then said, “It does not matter if you are good, only that you enjoy it. We are not the best at making worlds, but we have this gathering so that we can spend time doing something we love, as friends Please, join us for real ”

Taking the words to heart, Dave began to help create. He took inspiration from his manuscripts, turning it into a fantasy world filled with wonder and magic The eldritch beasts loved it and continued to encourage Dave and his ideas Within a few hours, they were done. The new world would exist somewhere in the cosmos, and they would act as its gods Including Dave, who they decided to recognize as one of them

When the conference ended, Dave said goodbye to his newfound friends, and returned home. When he entered, his wife was excited to see him. “So how did it go?” She asked.

“It went surprisingly well,” Dave replied “I got some really good ideas for my next book And also, I might have some friends coming over next week for dinner after a round of golf ”

“That’s great to hear. I can’t wait to meet them,” she responded. Dave then sat down at his desk, and he began to write