ben grover, the bend bend fruit, prologue

I was always crooked

on the day I was born everybody present noticed some strange things about me, first was a huge birthmark that streatched from elbow to elbow, slitering across the back of my shoulders. the second thing that they noticed was my back, specifically the fact that my spine was bent and curved like a slithering snake. the tiny bedroom was silent except for my crying, my parents exchanged a look of despair, they were poor fishers who almost never made any money that didn't go towards food, repairing their clothes and nets, or fixing the tiny shack that they slept in, and what little money they could save was taken for the celestial tribute, raising me was already pushing their luck, but scraping together enough money to fix my spine was straight up impossible, as they shared this look they both decided to simply ignore it and hope for the best.

and so they simply named me ben grant over, or grover for short