Take It One Step At A Time

"Did I bite off more than I can chew? Yes."

"Am I doing it anyway? Yes."

"Was this a huge mistake? Also, yes. But chances are I won't live to regret it."

Every limb in my body was independently protesting before we'd entered the dungeon, now it felt as though a Central Nervous System Union had been establish (with one clear demand: no rest, no work).

It suddenly occurred to me that confronting a Beholder may not have been the best-

"Do any of you have any health potions?"

"No?"

"No. Okay... well, that's, yeah, that'll be fine."

The walls seemed to be closing in, the air growing colder.

"You know, maybe we should have taken a nice long rest or some-"

They all heard it too, the scrapping against the walls behind us- or was is coming from in front of us?

"Guys, I really don't think we should have done this-"

The sound was coming closer, growing louder. It filled the small space, bouncing off of the walls and echoing inside my mind. I riffled through my pockets in an act of desperate madness; no food rations, thieves tools, healing potions, or magic spells would be enough to save me. The creature rounded the corner, a mass of tentacles, eyes, and teeth.

"Oh my God, oh my God, we should have started with something smaller! What even is that?!" The words poured out faster than my feet could move. The creature descended on me, and in the darkness that enveloped me I heard an angry voice call out:

"A party's first few enemies are rats and bats, you can't fight a beholder at level one guys, for the love of God!"

I wrote this extremely short story as a (in the most nerdy way possible) reminder that you'll get more done by setting achievable goals, being kind to yourself, and taking things one step at a time.