Short Story – The Golden Egg – Part 1

Decided to do a short story based on a prompt.

Prompt: A character finds an odd-looking egg in the forest. When they take it home, they never could have predicted what was inside it.

https://self-publishingschool.com/fiction-creative-writing-prompts/

 

The Golden Egg

As she did every day, Joanna went out hunting in the woods surrounding her home equipped with a bow and dagger. It was never easy for her to kill animals for food, but she needed to provide food for her two younger siblings.

Gobble.

The sound of a wild turkey caught her ear. We’ll be eating well tonight. Joanna thought, tiptoeing closer to the sound, her bow drawn. She caught a glimpse of grey feathers by a tree further down. Taking aim, she released an arrow.

Thud. Gobble, gobble. She missed, hitting the tree behind it, and the turkey took off running.

“Dammit,” she cursed under her breath and took off in pursuit, weaving around trees as she kept an eye on the turkey. This thing is fast. It led her deeper into the forest past the boundaries the village had set for safety reasons. “I swear I saw it run this way,” she walked into an opening leading to a wide, soaring tree with talismans plastered all over it. What are these? Approaching the tree to inspect the talismans, a large golden egg between the aerial roots of the tree caught her eye. Since she lost her chance at the turkey, and no one was around to see, Joanna decided to take the egg, cutting the roots entwined around it with her dagger.

“Whoa,” she struggled to lift the egg; surprised by the heft and barely reaching her arms around it. Attempting to keep her balance, she took a wider stance and waddled back home through the forest.

As she got closer to the village, she made sure to stay away from the main paths as to not be seen with such a peculiar object. Unwilling to set the egg down, she lightly kicked the back door to her house. Thump, thump, thump. “Trent, Lisa, open up.”

A moment later, the door swung open. “Why are you coming through the back door?” her younger brother, Trent, asked. “And what the hell is that?”

“Hurry up and move outta the way; this thing is heavy,” she pushed past him and carefully placed the egg down in the kitchen between the fridge and the pantry. “Ugh,” letting out a groan, she stretched out her arms and back.

“Care to explain now?” Trent tapped on the golden egg. “Is it even edible?”

“I have no idea. I found it in the forest while hunting a turkey.”

“Where’s the turkey?” he glanced at her.

“Well, I kinda had my hands full with the giant egg.”

“You chose a potentially inedible egg over a turkey? I bet you missed,” he snickered.

“Wow,” Lisa popped up beside them. “It’s beautiful,” her eyes sparkled.

“And hopefully delicious.”

“We’re going to eat it?” Lisa pushed her way between her siblings and touched the egg. The warm egg made her hand tingle. “We can’t eat this; it’s still warm.”

“Are you sure it’s not residual heat from me?”

“No way; it’s warm everywhere,” she glided her hand around the egg.

Joanna and Trent looked at each other. “Now what?”

“What do you mean, now what? We have to keep it warm!” Lisa rushed off to grab blankets and a heater.

Joanna grabbed onto a blanket as she passed by, stopping her. “You can’t seriously be trying to hatch this.”

“I say we crack it open,” Trent grabbed a hammer from the bottom drawer by the sink.

Lisa blocked their way. “Nope. No way. I’m not going to let you hurt whatever’s inside this egg.”

“What if it’s evil?”

Her face twitched and she swallowed hard. “I-I don’t feel an evil presence from it and you guys know my intuition is almost always right.”

“Fine,” Joanna said. “You have to take care of it then, okay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine,” Lisa sat down beside the egg and hugged it, sharing her warmth.

Trent rolled his eyes. “What do we do for food then?”

“We still have bread and vegetables; we’ll be fine.”

“I’m a growing boy; I need meat.”

“Come on, Trent, she’s not going to give up,” Joanna patted him on the back and wandered off. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and find that turkey nearby again; hold out till then, please.”

“Why don’t you let me go hunting with you? We’ll have a better chance at catching something with two of us,” he pleaded with her, his eyes filled with determination.

“You’re too young.”

“I’m already a teenager! How much longer are you going keep us confined in this village? Hell, you barely let us leave the house!”

“I’m trying to take care of you two.”

“Stop acting like you’re our parent and act like our sister for once!” Trent stomped upstairs to his room, slamming the door shut.

“He’s right, you know,” Lisa mumbled, staring down as she hugged the egg.

“I’ve been taking care of you two for years; what do you expect?”

“We’re not little kids who need you to hold their hands anymore. How about you trust us a little?”

“But what if…” she trailed off, remembering how her parents were killed by bandits.

“You’re in danger every time you go into the forest as well. I may not be the best candidate to hunt wild animals, but Trent has been training every day, getting ready for when you give him a chance. You should check out the tree in the back with the target carved into it; it’s covered in marks from all the arrows he’s shot it with. The center of the target is turning into mulch.”

“Do you think he’s ready to be out in the wild?” Time and time again, Trent had been asking to join her on her hunts. While she didn’t want to put him in any danger, she couldn’t help but wonder if it was her who wasn’t ready, not him.

“More ready than you were when you started.”

Joanna stared at her sister for a moment. “Fine, I’ll think about letting him join me; might need to train him more though.”

“He’s almost always training, so I doubt it.”

“Seriously?”

“You wouldn’t know ’cause you’re gone all the time, but yes, he trains a lot. I think he said something along the lines of being the ‘man’ of the house, so he should be able to protect us.”

“Why would he be concerned with that now?”

Lisa shrugged. “Dad told him to take care of us if anything happened to him.”

“But he’s been gone for years.”

“I’m just telling you what I heard. I think this is important to him and he’s been waiting for his chance for too long now.”

Joanna nodded absentmindedly and headed upstairs to rest in her room. She fell face-first onto her old, lumpy bed and fell asleep instantly.

—

“The egg is cracking open!” Lisa’s scream rang through the house.

“Hm?” Joanna shot straight up, dried drool stuck to the side of her mouth and lines from her pillow on her face.

Knock, knock, knock. Trent rapped on her door. “Come on, wake up before it hatches!”

She was about to ignore them and pull her blanket over her head when her stomach grumbled. Right, I haven’t had supper yet. Groaning, she dragged herself out of bed and nearly tripped over the wooden training sword which toppled onto the floor.

“Waa, waa, waa!”

Her head snapped up. “What the hell was that?” Her feet pounded down the stairs and she skidded into the kitchen. Her eyes widened and jaw dropped at the sight before her. “I-Is that a…”

“Hehe,” the small baby in Lisa’s arms stopped crying and held its hands out to Joanna, smiling.

“Can you believe this baby came out of the egg?” Lisa rocked the baby, wrapped in a towel, in her arms.

“We can’t keep him, or her, or whatever that is,” Joanna stared at their deep blonde hair and amber eyes.

“He’s a boy and we are keeping him. What else would we do, leave him out in the wild?”

“That’s where we found him. We could leave him back with the tree covered in talismans.”

Lisa gasped. “How can you even suggest leaving a defenceless baby out there alone?”

“Well, we don’t even know what he is… No human comes from a giant golden egg.”

Repulsed by her sister’s reaction, Lisa turned her back to her. “Come on, Aurum, we don’t need my big meanie of a sister; I’ll take care of you.”

“Aurum?”

“Yes, it’s the name I gave him. It means gold.”

“I think she’s afraid of him,” Trent had been standing off to the side watching them with an amused grin.

“He’s a baby; what are you afraid of? You’ve been taking care of us for so long.”

“You guys were old enough to use the bathroom on your own when I took over.”

Trent and Lisa burst out laughing. “We see how it is now. Don’t worry, sis, I’ll take care of our baby.”

“And what do we tell the other people in the village? We can’t say he came from a magical golden egg.”

“Most of them avoid us anyway.” At first, after their parents were killed, the village people felt sorry for them and brought offerings, but after their heads were put on display, almost everyone turned their backs on them. The bandits held a grudge against their family for killing one of their leaders and punished anyone who they found associating with them.

“Mrs. Marin might notice, being the only one who pops by.”

“Well, I don’t think she’d buy it if we said it’s yours, so how about someone left him at our front door and that’s all we know.”

“Fine, suit yourself.”

“I’ll get some supplies,” Trent turned and Joanna grabbed his arm. “I won’t let you—”

“Here,” she handed him a pouch. “See what supplies you can buy with this.”

“Okay, thanks,” he grinned and headed out.

“Thanks,” Lisa turned to her and Aurum instantly had his hands out towards Joanna again. “He seems to want you, not me…” she pouted.

“Don’t worry; I’m going out hunting and gathering again. If we have someone else to feed than I at least need to make us some more money. See you later.”

—

With her aim being off today, Joanna decided to focus more on collecting herbs. Their mother was a proficient healer and always took the time to teach her about herbs used to make medicine. “Oh, some goldenseal; a nice find. And ginseng?” She spent hours picking herbs and stuffing them into her bag.

Crackle. Joanna flinched back at the sound of thunder. She glanced at the sky to see dark clouds rolling in. She shoved all of her herbs into her bag and took off running, stumbling over overgrown tree roots on her way home.

Drip. A droplet splashed on her nose. “Crap, crap, crap. Ah!” she tripped and face-planted in the mud at the edge of the forest. Rain poured down and thunder ripped through the sky again. “Ugh…” she spat mud out, trembling.

“Sis!” Trent rushed over to help her to her feet.

“Thanks, but what are you doing here?”

Boom.

“Ah,” she cringed, holding onto her head, shaking.

“I heard the thunder and came running. Let’s go,” Trent yelled to pierce through the heavy rain. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and forced her forward, surprising her with his strength. “Come on, we’re almost home.”

They burst through their front door and she dropped to her knees panting. She looked up and came face to face with a young boy wearing Trent’s old clothes. He grabbed her face with both hands. “You need to dry off,” he wandered further into the house.

“Um, who was that?” Joanna blinked a few times, dumbfounded.

Trent coughed and looked away. “I don’t know how to tell you this, or if you’ll believe me, but that’s Aurum.”

“Aurum’s a baby; that boy was at least five years old.”

“Yeah… after I pulled out the old crib from when we were little, Lisa put him to sleep, and when she came back a few hours later, he had grown… a lot. It’s a good thing you didn’t throw out my old clothes since he’s going to need them.”

Aurum came back a moment later with a towel and tossed it onto her head, trying to rub her hair dry.

“Hey, you brought one for her, but not me?” Trent complained, crossing his arms.

He stuck his tongue out at Trent and hid behind Joanna.

“Wow, you’re turning into a cheeky little brat already.”

Joanna tugged the towel off her head. “How are you not reacting more to this?”

“It happened; nothing I can change about it.”

“But…” she pointed at Aurum, “This isn’t normal! He must be some magical being or something!”

“He did come out of a golden egg… so I’m not exactly sure why you’re expecting something normal.”

“Joanna no like me?” Aurum mumbled, his lip trembling as tears formed in his eyes.

“Oh! No, no, no! It’s nothing like that!” Crap.

“See what you did, sis? You’re so insensitive sometimes,” Trent knelt down beside them. “She’s just scared of the unknown and doesn’t know how to react to the situation.”

“Am I bad?”

“Of course not, little buddy; you’re a good boy,” he patted him on the head. “Now, can you bring me a towel?”

Aurum nodded and vanished deeper into the house once again.

“Jeez, you need to learn how to deal with situations better.”

“But—”

“No buts! You almost made that little boy cry and Lisa will not stand for that.”

“Since when do you get to scold me?”

“Since I’m old enough to know when you screw up now. The dynamics in this house are about to change.”

She glared at him. “I’m still your older sister.”

He flinched, stepping back. “B-but we’re not afraid of talking back to you now.”

“Evidently.”

“Here,” Aurum appeared beside Trent holding out a fresh towel.

“Thanks, little buddy,” he accepted the towel and rubbed his head.

Crackle. Thunder rumbled again. Joanna curled into a ball, covering her head with the towel, shaking. A sudden warmth enveloped her head. Aurum rested her head on his lap and hugged her head. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” his muffled voice came through the towel.

“Wow, this kid is… something else.”

“What’s going on in here?” Lisa came in from the kitchen, holding onto a bowl of chopped up fruit.

Trent pointed upwards and the thunder crackled again.

“Oh… Well, I’ve set up food if anyone’s hungry. I guess it would be better to say when you guys are hungry. Don’t worry, sis, the storm will pass soon. Aurum.” His head perked up. “Take good care of her.”

He nodded and gave her a thumbs-up before stroking Joanna’s head.

—

When the thunderstorm finally subsided an hour later, Aurum pulled the towel off her head. “The thunder went bye-bye,” he peeked at her face to find her asleep.

“Hey, you two should eat something,” Trent came back in and stared at them for a moment before tiptoeing up to Joanna. “Wake up!” he shouted in her ear.

“Ah!” Joanna awoke with a start and cracked her head against Trent’s.

“Ow,” they both groaned, rubbing their heads.

“What the hell, Trent?”

“Tch, as if you haven’t done that to me before! Besides, you shouldn’t be sleeping on the kid’s lap.”

“What? Oh!” she shuffled away from Aurum. He giggled and waved at her. “Uh, hi,” she waved back with an awkward smile.

“Even the little one is taking care of you now, sis,” Trent snickered.

“We’re all afraid of something, Trent, and if you keep acting like this, you might find a certain little creature in your bed one night.”

Trent swallowed, a chill running down his spine as he imagined going to bed and waking up covered in insects. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry. Please don’t put something creepy in my bed.”

Knock, knock, knock.

Joanna and Trent froze and then glanced at Aurum.

“Kids, please answer,” Mrs. Marin, their neighbour, called out to them, knocking on the door again.

“Hide him,” Joanna shooed them away and answered the door. “Hi, Mrs. Marin, what brings you here?”

“I figured I’d warn you kids; the bandits have come back and they’re claiming someone stole their golden egg they left in the care of the sacred tree.”

Joanna froze. Their golden egg? A sacred tree?

“Joanna?”

“Thanks for telling us,” she managed to say despite her dry throat.

“They’ve started searching peoples’ homes; this is going to be like when they killed your parents if they don’t find it soon,” tears formed in her eyes.

“I won’t let that happen,” Joanna said with her jaw set, a dangerous glint in her eyes.

“Oh, no, no, no, please don’t do anything dangerous. You kids will be safer if you stay out of the village for a few days,” she tried to usher Joanna back, deeper into her house.

Joanna stood her ground. “No, I can’t hide away from them anymore. They’ve proven that they’ll keep coming back, taking more lives and money every time. We need to get rid of them for good.”

“You can’t take them all on by yourself.”

“She won’t be alone,” Trent appeared in the doorway.

“Not you too… Oh dear… Is there no way to stop you?”

“No,” they said in unison.

Joanna turned to her brother. “You’re not coming with me. You have to take care of Lisa in case something happens to me.”

“What?! You can’t expect me to sit back if you’re going to go take on some bandits!”

“And I can’t put you in danger; stay home.”

“Psh, like you can tell me what to do. I’ll go after them regardless of what you say.”

“Kids, kids, please calm down and think about this rationally. Your parents were already taken out by them; they’d want you to stay as far away from them as possible,” Mrs. Marin assured them, wishing she could do more.

“Please don’t fight them alone!” Aurum came running out and hugged Joanna, but he was a lot taller than when she last saw him; he was bursting out of his clothes, his abdomen fully visible, and only a head length shorter than her.

“Oh my, who is this?”

“Uh… I’m sorry, Mrs. Marin, but we need to have a family meeting,” Joanna shoved her out of the house.

“Don’t do anything dangerous!” her muffled voice came through the door.

“Um…” she gazed down at Aurum. “You grew again?”

“Yes,” he hugged her tighter. “Soon I’ll be big enough to help you, so wait for me.”

He looks like he’s ten years old already… “You won’t keep aging at this rate, will you?” He’ll be dead in a few days if he does.

His face scrunched up as he thought. “I shouldn’t; I’m only supposed to match your age.”

“Wait, what? Why me?”

“You’re mine and I’m yours.”

“Wha…” Joanna stayed there stunned with her jaw hanging.

Trent burst out laughing, keeling over as he held onto his stomach, “Looks like you finally got a boyfriend, sis.”

She mumbled incoherently, stuck in a state of confusion. “I’m um… way too…” she tried to push Aurum away.

He shook his head and kept hold. “You found the egg and were able to lift it, so it’s meant to be.”

“Well, he has seemed attached to you since the moment he hatched; I don’t think there’s any running away from this one—”

“Shut up, Trent!”

“What are you guys yelling about in here?” Lisa came in and her eyes went wide. “What happened to Aurum… he’ll be our age in no time.”

“Apparently, only a special one was supposed to be able to move the egg, which was Joanna,” Trent snickered, unable to stop his laughter. “Guess those bandits are full of it in saying it was their egg.”

“Oh…”

“Hmm, you seem disappointed,” he elbowed Lisa.

“Nope, I’m fine.”

“Aurum, you have to let go so I can go scout out the village,” Joanna forced a smile.

“No! It’s too dangerous,” he could sense the dark energy lingering nearby and it clawed at him as if it was attempting to suffocate him.

“It doesn’t matter; I have to go.”

“Just wait for me and I’ll protect you all.”

“I’m sorry, but we don’t have time; we don’t know how long it will take—”

“But…” his bottom lip quaked.

“Just be a good boy and stay here; keep the house safe alongside Trent.”

“Um,” Trent cleared his throat, “Pretty sure I told you I’m not staying behind and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

“I can tie you up and lock you in your room.”

He stomped up to her, “Try me.”

“Don’t fight!” Aurum pleaded, standing between them.

“Aurum, let’s find you some new clothes,” Lisa glared at the two of them as she led him away.

Once they were alone, Trent spoke up, “Why don’t you just work with me? If we’re together, at least you can keep an eye on me.”

He made a good point. “Ugh, fine,” Joanna groaned. “Let’s find you a weapon or two.”

“No need; I have my own.”

She sighed, shaking her head as she wondered when and how he managed to get his own weapons. But with how much time she spent away from home, trying to make money for them, it shouldn’t have surprised her. “Fine. Gear up and we’ll head out.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

—

Continued in part 2.