[ WP ] In the second coming of King Arthur , the sword in the stone has returned and thousands line up to take a turn . You step up to the stone , give a tug ... and the blade breaks .

“ Hey Arthur, did you hear about this crazy rumor, ” John called from his room. John ’ s room was down the hall from Arthur ’ s room, and Arthur himself was in the middle of guild raid for his favorite MMO. Arthur's room was cluttered, and by cluttered there was nothing but a bed, desk, computer, and empty food containers lying around. Arthur had made this his life ever since he was laid off from his job at the construction company four months ago. He still had some money left in his savings, but that was quickly disappearing. He was well aware he needed a new job, but he hadn ’ t gotten any call backs in weeks, although truth be told he hadn ’ t submitted an application in weeks. 
 
 “ What, ” Arthur replied, not even registering what his roommate had said. Arthur quickly apologised to his raid leader and got up from his desk to see what his friend needed. Arthur poked his head into his friends rooms, and asking what was going on, John spun around. 
 
 “ Hey, so there's this insane rumor going around that the sword in stone from the King Arthur myths has been discovered, ” John quickly read from his screen, “ annnnnd, it ’ s not far from hear. Only like an hour drive at most. ” 
 
 “ How can it be an hour away? ” Arthur asked, knowing full well that they lived in Vermont and the legends are set in England, which is considerably farther than an hour by car. “ Everyone knows that Camelot is set in England, and were in New England. ” 
 
 “ Well that's the thing, ” John said, “ This isn ’ t the original Camelot, it's a new Camelot, so it makes sense that it would be set in New England. ” 
 
 “ That's the dumbest reasoning I ’ ve ever heard, ” Arthur said as he turned to leave the room. Arthur was in the middle of guild raid and he needed to get back as soon as possible. Lest he miss out on the loot drops. As soon as Arthur had sat himself back down in chair and put his headphones on, John this time popped his head into Arthur ’ s room. 
 
 “ Were going to see it tomorrow, ” John started, “ You haven ’ t left the house in nearly a week and you need to get some sun. Maybe trying to pull the sword out will inspire you to get a job and pay your part of the rent. ” 
 
 “ Fuck, ” Arthur mumbled to himself. He really didn ’ t have a way to say no, since he indeed hadn ’ t left his room in about a week, and he did need to get a job. “ Ok, just wake me up and I ’ ll go. ” 
 
 When they arrived at the spot in rural New Hampshire where the sword had been discovered by an old farmer, hundreds, if not thousands had already gathered. Arthur and John stepped out of their car, and began making their way to the start of the line. They stood in that line for what felt like hours, and in reality was hours, as nearly three hundred people stood in line to pull the sword. Even news stations had arrived to capture this momentous occasion, hoping that they would be the first to break the story. 
 
 When John and Arthur finally got to the front of the line, the amount of people gathered had decreased dramatically, although there were still nearly 500 people still gathered and mingling about. People had set up chairs and blankets to watch the sword, and the smell of hot dogs and burger could faintly be detected coming from the tailgaters in the field. The farmer that had discovered the sword was waiting at the front of the line, and charged a five dollar fee to anyone who wanted to attempt to remove it. 
 
 “ John, this is dumb, ” Arthur said as they became number three and four in the line. “ Were basically wasting time and money just being here. Look, that old farmers got to have already made a fortune from this gimmick. ” 
 
 “ Jesus Arthur, can you go five minutes without complaining. Just try to enjoy yourself. I ’ ll pay for you if that makes it better. ” With this, John was at the front of line and paid the farmer ten dollars, and let him know he was also paying for Arthur. The farmer motioned to John to step forward, and stepped back. John stood at the sword, and began pulling at it with everything he had. The sword, even though a solid two feet of it stuck out from the rock, didn ’ t budge at all. Not a bend in the metal, not a creak from the rock. John continued to pull, and after about twenty seconds gave up, and let Arthur have a crack at it. 
 
 Arthur, much less enthused about this than his friend, walked towards that sword and gave it a solid look. He actually thought it was all kinda funny, and began imagining what would actually happen if he pulled it out of the stone. Hell, he thought to himself, he's got the right name for it after all. Arthur stepped up to the sword, and grabbed the hilt. He adjusted his grip, and wiping sweat from his brow, he a small tug. 
 
 Arthur felt that time had stopped for him in this brief moment. He looked at his hand, which held the swords hilt, and only the hilt, as the blade was still lodged within the stone. The people watching had stopped talking, and even the music playing from people's cars appeared to have muted itself. Everyone had their eyes on the hilt in Arthur's hand, and Arthur himself stood there in disbelief. 
 
 The farmer, who had eagerly been taking money from the participants dropped the money in his hand and ran to the sword. He grabbed the hilt from Arthur and frantically began trying to reattach it to the sword. Of course, Arthur knew, that no amount of trying would reattach the hilt to the sword. Arthur made a motion for the hilt, and farmer pulled back immediately, cussing and screaming at Arthur that he must have done it intentionally. 
 
 Suddenly, a loud thunderclap came from the sky, and the clouds began to turn a dark blue and swirl in the sky. Heavy rain began to pour, and the crowds of people who had gathered, and were only a moment ago staring in disbelief, began to yell and gather up their things. Arthur, knowing full well that the sword hilt at least belonged to him, grabbed it from the old farmer. Having taken the hilt from the farmer, Arthur looked around for his friend John, who appeared to have gotten lost in the confusion that had become of the crowd. 
 
 A great flash of lightning suddenly came down from the sky and struck the farmer, and in a moment the farmer disappeared, only to be replaced by an equally old man, this time clad in robes and sporting a great white beard. With this, the rain and the clouds above disappeared, and the once confused crowd looked at the old robed man with curiosity. 
 
 “ Hmmmf, ahhhk, ” the old man coughed. The old man used his beard as a sort of tissue, and began coughing into it. He regained his composure, and brushed himself off. He looked around, and saw Arthur standing alone in the crowd of people. “ So you must be Arthur then! ” the old man started, “ I am Merlin, the great wizard of old! ” He turned to look at the crowd, who looked back expectantly. “ I am here to guide this man on his quest to restore the kingdom of Camelot! As his people, I expect your full support on our journey to a new day of glory and fortune! ” 
 
 Merlin turned back to Arthur, and embraced him, as if they had known each other for a very long time. Arthur stood there, rigidly, while the old man held him, and tried to back away as the wizard released him. “ Now then Arthur, show me the proof of your deeds and show me the holy blade of Excalibur, ” Merlin said closing his eyes and drawing a great smile. Arthur drew the hilt of Excalibur out from behind his back and held it out to the wizard. Merlin opened his eyes, looked at the hilt, then at the stone and seeing the blade still lodged in the stone, looked back at Arthur holding the hilt. The wizard again closed his eyes but this time openly muttered to himself. 
 
 “ Ahh fuck. ” 

