The King (Minecraft short story) The King Our King has always been a little different. He’s very quiet I haven’t really seen him give anyone orders at all either. Whenever something needs to be done I see him doing it. He doesn’t just sit around; I’ve actually seen him go into the mines. I don’t know if it’s just because I’m a child but not even the adults in the village are as active as him. He’s always leaving the kingdom and coming back with tons of different things. I can’t always see what he’s coming back with, but I’ve seen bones, some kind of meat that just looks bad, and even strange looking pearls. And the dogs! He has so many dogs that there’s not a single wild dog here. He must be traveling great distances to find all these dogs, because I know they’re not from here. When I see him doing all these strange things I start asking my parents what it is he’s doing, and they tell me: “don’t question the king,” but they never tell me why. He doesn’t look old, so he can’t be all that wise. All that work he does and all the times he leaves - it’s not normal. I was sick of wondering. I finally got into his castle and he was at his workbench. When I got closer he looked back at me, seemingly confused, but he turned back around and kept tinkering with some weird red dust. I got closer and mustered up the courage to ask him as politely as I could, “How come you’re so different than everyone else?” The king stopped, stood up and looked at me. He asked, “Excuse me?” and I said it again. He chuckled briefly under his breath and said “it seems like you’re different too.” He started to tell me a story. “When I was your age, I lived in a different kingdom and I felt the same way about my king. I would go to school and all the kids and the teachers would seem to just drift through their lives, but not the king; he was always spontaneous. I was finally sick of that curious feeling, so I went and talked to my king and he told me his story. Sometime afterwards the kingdom was destroyed and all the people inside were attacked by monsters. It was terrible. There were explosions, arrows, and the groans of the undead. I was able to escape, but barely. I fought my way out with nothing but my hands. finally I found a break in the chaos and I found a cave and covered the entrance with dirt. I was devastated, but I wanted to live so I built a shelter. I enjoyed building. Then since I had built my shelter I began mining - I enjoyed that as well. I had so many supplies I decided to build more and I ended up building a village. Strangely enough people appeared. That village moved on to become this kingdom. That’s my story.” I asked him why he told me all that. and he told me simply because I was a player. A player? I was so confused. He then told me that only players are kings. I didn’t understand. He went on by asking me what my earliest memory is and I told him standing outside. “Exactly,” He said. “That was the first time you entered this world.” He started talking about how this life isn’t real and that once he’s gone he’ll be able to enter the real world again. He began taking me adventuring with him, that’s when he would explain things and share his knowledge with me. “When a king dies, everything he ever did goes with him. That’s how my king’s old kingdom was destroyed. I left my Kingdom and made a village. I have people of my own now. My king was killed by a mob of three suicide creatures right outside his gate. I saw everything he had made disappear along with him.” That’s when I believed everything he told me - while he took me adventuring with him. Now I know that there is a better life to be had out of this one. A less edged and more rounded one. Thank you king Steve. Minecraft Steve.