The Background
A short story I wrote a while back because I was annoyed at how background characters were treated.
This is it. My time is up. They'll kill me off tonight. I don't really want to die, but they don't care, do they? I'm just a background character. I'm not important for the story. I'm not skilled or cool or handsome or unique like the main characters. I'm just a prop in the background. I look around, and I see other background characters around me. They all look the same, just like me. We don't even have names, let alone lines. We're just one-dimensional characters to kill off. We never signed up for this, but what do they care? All that matters if the hero of this story wins or not. It doesn't matter how many of us he tramples on to win. And even if I did do something to help him, even if I saved his life, it would just be dismissed as "convenient" or "lucky". If he did the same thing, it would make him all "heroic" and "amazing". And what did he even do to deserve this? He's just some random guy who got thrown into a swirling portal and given a wand he can't even use. He's so dense. And yet he always wins. He always beats the bad guys even though they're so much stronger and more experienced. Why? Because he's the main character. That's why. It's just a fact of this strange phenomenon they call "life". I hear a shout. The magical battle is starting. I bet I'll be the first to die. I won't even get to die dramatically; I'll be trampled by some rude dragon along with the other background characters. I wish I could shine and be myself, but there is no myself. I'm just like the rest of them. A face in the crowd, a dot on the map. But what if I don't have to be? What if I can be something more than this? What I if I can be... a hero? I'll die anyway, so what do I have to lose? Yes. This is what I'm meant for. This is my purpose. I know what I have to do. I look around. The dumb hero has given up on his wand and it's lying on the ground unwatched. I creep over and carefully lift it up between two fingers. The dragons are approaching fast, so I'll have to be quick. I run towards the hero. He's staring up at the huge dragon, frozen with fear. The dragon lifts its foot. I leap in front of the hero and point the wand at the dragon. I start muttering the magic words. I've heard the wizard try to teach them the hero so many times I couldn't forget them if I wanted to. Suddenly the wand is grabbed from me. "Hey! That's MY wand! I'M the hero here! You're just a background character!" yells the hero. He does a dramatic flourish with the wand, points it at the dragon towering over him, takes a deep breath, and shouts... "OPEN SESAME!" Nothing happens, of course. The dragon just looks at him disapprovingly and raises his foot. I grab the wand and complete the magic words that I started before the hero took over. A dark cloud fills the air and for a moment I don't know what's up or down. The cloud clears and I realize all the dragons are dead and we're all alive. I can't believe it! I did it! "I did it!" shouts the hero when he finishes getting up (it takes him a while). Everybody starts congratulating him. He'll go down in history. And me? I'm not important. I'm just another background character.