When I was six I took a boat from the harbor of Moranth and set out to sea. It took four days, but eventually my parents found me – beached on the shore a mile down the coast. When I was nine I strapped a sword to my belt for the first time and headed off into the wilderness. It took two weeks to find me, and I was near frozen and starving. When I was twelve, I went hunting with my father and nearly killed a bear. My father held me back as I wielded my sword savagely above my head, trying to break from cover. So – maybe I didn’t almost kill it, but I tried.

Now, at 15, it was time for me to head out on another adventure. This year had to be grand, a finale before I set off on my real journey when I turned eighteen.

“None of those things actually happened,” Rose reprimanded me as she sat on my bed, watching me scratch my adventures into the journal before me. “Yu need to get yur head oot of the clouds.”

“Oh, but Rose.” I gazed longingly out the window, hoping that something would stir to take me away from this place. “Ah have to spice up the story a bit. People wouldn’t be interested in what ah have to say otherwise.”

“A’m interested.” Rose smiled reassuringly at me.

Rose and I had been friends for as long as I could remember. My father told me that we had quickly bonded because we shared auburn hair, a light complexion, and a mess of freckles on our noses. “Don’t lie aboot it.”

“My life isn’t interesting, though. It’s not like the stories.” I glanced over at my bookshelf, stacked with novels about great heroes. I had always wanted to be one of them – like my father, except even greater. “Life is never like the stories, though, is it?”

“Life is exactly like the stories,” Rose replied as she perused my collection of books. They had been expensive, but my father was the son of a nobleman and his inheritance had been hefty. “The people who write these just take oot the boring parts. Maybe yu need to just take oot the boring parts.”

“That’s all my life is, boring parts.” I sighed, staring down at the first paragraph I had written. Why couldn’t that have been how I had grown up? I just wanted to be important, go on an adventure, and save the world; was that too much to ask?

“Well, yur life has had one interesting part, yu numpty.” Ewan burst through the door and interrupted our conversation. He was my best friend in Moranth. “Yu met me.”

“Oh, very funny, Ewan.” I shook my head, and he pushed me playfully on the shoulder. “Yu’re such an eejit sometimes.”

“Oy!” He leapt up in defense. “Speak for yersel.”

“Wheesht, yu two.” Rose hushed us, and we looked at her with grins on our faces. She sighed. “If ah didn’t know better ah’d think yu hated each other.”

“We’re just playing,” Ewan said, and he stepped close to Rose. I hated when he did that. Who did he think he was? “So what are we doing?”

“Simon’s writing aboot his adventures,” Rose explained. “He just doesn’t think he has any.”

“That’s because he doesn’t. Ah come here every day and ah wonder what it is that we dae for fun.” Ewan dropped onto my bed and stretched. After a while I’d come to accept his lack of manners. It was kind of endearing, in a strange way. “Then ah waste the day doing nothing and go home. A’m tired of it. We’ve got to dae something one of these days.”

“That’s what ah was just saying.” I turned back to the nearly blank journal in front of me. It was time for a real adventure; Ewan was with me. “Rose, what dae yu think?”

“Ah think the two of yu are heidbangers.” Rose crossed her arms and glanced at our expectant faces. “But ah don’t have anything better to dae.”

“So, what did yu have in mind?” Ewan asked. He looked excited to get going.

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. Maybe that was why I never had any adventures. I could never think of any good ideas. “Maybe we could just go in the forest and the adventure will find us.”

“It doesn’t sound like yu really want this.” Ewan eyed me skeptically. I wondered if he had an idea he wasn’t telling. “Let’s go to the Maw.”

Rose and I looked at each other and then back at Ewan. The Maw was what we called the inlet about half a mile down the coast. It was a cliff that overlooked the sea. Rocks jutted up from under the water and stalactites hung from the cliff above, forming a cave that vaguely resembled the mouth of a wild animal.

The Maw was taboo for the people of Moranth. We were told stories to scare us from a young age. It was said a monstrous creature guarded the area and would kill any intruders. In hindsight, the story seemed ridiculous, but it had kept us away when we were young. Even now, there was a subconscious fear that nagged us to leave the Maw alone – but we were teenagers, so that was not going to happen.

“Are yu serious?” Rose asked. “What aboot the stories?”

“Yu’re not really afraid of those stories are yu, Rose?” Ewan asked. “Haven’t yu always wondered what was there, why we’re so afraid of it?”

“Not really, no,” Rose replied quickly. “Ah like being alive. Ah don’t want to die this young. So no, ah haven’t even had a touch of curiosity.”

“It doesn’t matter, Ewan,” I growled, suddenly defensive, though I wasn’t sure why. “If she doesn’t want to come, just leave her alone.”

“Fine.” He shrugged. “Ah guess we’ll meet up with yu afterward.”

“Ah didnae say ah wasn’t coming.” Rose looked back and forth between our faces. “Ah just wanted to make sure yu were up to it.”

“Ah knew you would.” Ewan smiled, then turned to me. “Get your sword. We might need it.”

The three of us made our way into the snowy forest on the outskirts of our town. Everyone knew where the Maw was; that made it easier to avoid. As we walked I could feel the adrenaline start to rush and nerves begin to kick in. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. No, I told myself, it’s high time for an adventure.

Rose led the way, and Ewan and I walked a bit behind her. “Now that’s a bonnie lass, eh?” Ewan nudged me with his elbow, and for some reason my face flushed.

“Yeah, ah guess,” I replied quietly, staring at Rose. “But yu wouldn’t want a girl like her, would yu?”

“What do yu mean?” Ewan asked, his voice little more than a whisper so Rose wouldn’t hear.

“A girl that’s smarter than yu.” I turned to Ewan and grinned. He didn’t grin back.

“Hawl?! Yu take that back, yu bawface.” Ewan pushed me down into the snow, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Then he stopped, as though he realized my statement was correct.

“Ah think we’re here,” Ewan said, and I turned to look over my shoulder. It looked like many of the other inlets along the western coast. Something about the cliff face seemed ominous, though. No one said anything, but we all felt it.

Ewan helped me to my feet, and we walked to the edge of the cliff and looked over. It was a long drop to the spikes that would mean sure death. My fear resurged, and I looked to Ewan to see how he was fairing. His eyes were shining, and he was smiling.

“So how do we get down?” I asked. We couldn’t just jump, but I was not sure of my ability to climb down either. It seemed like we had come all this way for nothing – or maybe I was starting to back out.

“Ah guess we climb,” Ewan answered. He crouched and looked for a place to clamber down the rock wall.

“Or we could just take this path.”

Ewan and I looked at Rose, who was standing at the beginning of a path that headed down the sheer wall. I laughed, and Ewan glared at me. “Come on, yu two.”

Rose took the lead again as we walked single file along the frighteningly thin path. One misstep would mean death. The snow was so high there was no way to judge where to step.

“This is so much better than staying home!” Ewan was shaking with excitement, or maybe it was the cold. “We should dae this more oft–”

Ewan took a step and didn’t find purchase. Rose and I watched as one leg slid out from under him and then the rest of his body followed. I grabbed hold of one wrist and Rose just barely caught the other. The weight jerked us, but we somehow remained standing.

“Rose, let go of him,” I ordered, and Ewan’s head snapped to look at me. I finally saw the fear in his eyes I had been looking for. “Ewan, yu have to trust me. Rose, let go.”

Rose let go and the weight became a little heavier. I grabbed Ewan’s opposite wrist with my other hand and pulled him up next to us. My extraordinary build had finally come in handy.

“Yu scared me for a minute there.” Ewan was lying in the snow, breathing heavily. “Ah thought yu were going to drop me.”

“It crossed my mind.” I laughed.

We continued down the path. Finally we reached the bottom without further incident. We walked along the ice toward the Maw. From this vantage point it was more terrifying than I had imagined. I was worried that the stalactites would fall at any minute and the mouth close around us.

Eventually the ice gave way to a rocky beach where the cliff wall had been carved. Rose, Ewan, and I stared into the darkness before us: the esophagus, I supposed, of the Maw. That was where we would find our creature, if there was one.

“So who wants to go first?” I asked. They both looked at me, and I sighed. “Fine.”

I drew my blade and took a few cautious steps into the cave. I could barely see a few feet in front of me. If there was a monster in here, we wouldn’t know until it was right in front of us.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea,” Ewan finally admitted. “We could go back.”

“Yu’re not giving up now,” I answered, sidling forward.

Eventually the three of us emerged into a room. Dim light filtered in from somewhere, just enough for us to see that there was no way out except the way we had come. There was a frozen pool in the center, and many nondescript jutting rocks accounted for the rest of the scene.

“Is that it?” Ewan brushed past me, not believing this could possibly be all the Maw held. “That’s anticlimactic.”

Then, only a few feet from Ewan, something moved. It had appeared to be a rock to our weakened eyesight, but now we could see it was a large mass of fur. Ewan took a few steps back as the beast rose to its full height. It looked something like a bear, but on its hind legs it was over nine feet tall, and it seemed hungry.

“What dae we dae?” Ewan yelled. He had gotten his wish; we were now face to face with the beast of the Maw.

“Ah don’t know! Run?” I replied. Everyone seemed to think that was a good idea. We turned and sprinted toward the exit, but the beast caught us with little trouble, knocking Ewan off his feet.

As it loomed over Ewan, Rose and I came to a skidding halt. It was about ready to dig in when I stabbed my sword into its side. It roared and swung one of its front legs at me, knocking me off my feet. The beast seemed more annoyed than anything else as it turned its attention to me.

I saw my only defense sticking out of its side and recognized my defeat. “Get oot of here!” I shouted to my companions. “There’s nothing yu can dae!”

Then a rock flew and hit the beast in the snout. It turned and looked at Rose, who was preparing to throw another. “What are yu doing?” I shouted, getting to my feet and ramming the beast to get its attention. I felt like I had run into a wall, but somehow I managed to knock it from its feet.

“Saving yur life,” Rose answered as Ewan drew my sword from the beast’s flesh. It turned toward Ewan, and he drove my sword through its eye. It fell over, dead.

When we got back to town the three of us looked at each other and started to laugh in hysteria. “I think that’s enough adventure for now.” I smiled as I opened the door of my house.

My dad was sitting by the fireplace drinking. I could only guess what was in the mug. He glanced at us. “So, what did yu dae today?”

I looked at Ewan and then at Rose. We wanted to smile but couldn’t give it away. “Oh, yu know …” I turned back to my father. “Nothing much.”