Once there was a young man. He had no purpose or direction in life, and he was miserable. So he took up fishing. He felt it was a rather enjoyable way to spend one's life. He stood around all day in a boat, talking to his friends, and at the end of it he had a meal to take home to his family. He never did get away from that feeling there must be more to life, but overall he was a cheerful fellow and didn't try to dwell on things he couldn't change.

Then one day, he met a man. Technically, the man met him. Before we go much further, we should assign these people names. Our fisherman friend we'll call Ryan. One day, Ryan was fishing when he heard a voice behind him.

"Hey, Ryan!"

Ryan turned around from the fishermanly thing he was doing at the moment, to see a man behind him. It was early in the morning; none of Ryan's friends had arrived yet. This was someone Ryan had never met.

The man looked odd. He had white hair, but didn't appear to be old. He was shorter than Ryan, and his eyes had a wild look in them. He was wearing a kind of apron that had all manner of colorful stains on it. His hat was circular and oddly-shaped. Even stranger is that no one respectable in Ryan's city wore hats. Only people of bad reputation wore them.

"Ryan," the man said, "you feel as though you have no purpose or direction in life. You want something different."

Ryan was rather taken aback, since he'd never mentioned this feeling to anyone.

"Kind sir," Ryan replied, "you have me at a disadvantage because I don't know your name. Why do you approach me saying things that you can't possibly know?"

"Ryan," the strange man said, "I am here to offer you a way to learn about things you've only dreamed can exist. I'll introduce you to a new world that right now you can't even conceive. I see potential in you and know you can be more than just a fisherman."

Ryan was speechless. People normally didn't tell him things like this.

"If you're interested," the man continued, "come with me."

The man then turned and walked away.

"But sir," Ryan called after the man, "what about my family? What do I tell them? They're expecting me home for dinner tonight!"

The man did not reply and continued to walk away.

Ryan was not sure what he should do. He had never given much thought to anything other than being a fisherman, but now that he knew there was something different out there...not to mention someone that somehow knew about him and believed in him...it was quite a dilemma. If he did nothing, this man would walk away and Ryan would never see him again. However, who knew where this man was taking him?

The man was almost out of sight.

Cursing the man for putting him in this untenable situation, Ryan left everything.

He began to run after the Artist.