At what age did you realize you were not immortal? How did you react to that discovery?
I can’t remember at what age I started thinking that I know I am a mortal being and that I won’t live forever. As a small child most of us here in our family are bombarded with shouts of “be careful”, “you will hurt yourself” or “that’s dangerous” by our mothers, aunts and elderly women especially. Hence I think the concept of getting badly hurt is drilled into our minds at a very young age. Understanding that nothing lasts for ever and you or your loved ones could die at any point of time is a different matter. When I was 12 years old my dad brought home a puppy – a Pomeranian & Alsatian mix-that stole our hearts from the moment we saw her. My older sister and I loved the pup, who we named Lassie, so much that we didn’t want to go school (college for her) the next couple of days. The pup however was doomed as it was later discovered that she had an infection of worms that she got from the breeders.
4 days after she came to our home my heart would break as she passed away ill from the worm infection and the fact that she drank some petrol from a can she overturned (she was in our garage during the day until a doghouse for her could be built) according to the vet. That was perhaps the first time I realized that people and beings I loved and were close to me would die someday or the other. I cried for 2 days and that lesson was learned. I’ve been aware of mortality, both my own and that of my near and dear ones in a very precises manner yet I am never prepared for it. I tend to be sad and withdrawn and shake my fists at the absurdity of life and this disgusting arrangement of time and the end. Why does one have to die?
It’s no wonder that this elaborate futuristic science fiction fueled world that I have created (I’ve tried to put it on paper more than a dozen times but I failed to put the words to the fantastic images in my brain and day dreams) mankind and all of earth’s creature lived in a very safe and advanced world, free from pain, sorrow, hunger & strife and also, due to an alien virus that has mixed in with our own organic shields that protect us, made us immortal i.e stopped the aging process so that unless we are forcefully killed we will live on forever. Sounds good to me. I want to live forever.
Prompt from the Daily Post at WordPress.com.
Your response to this prompt was what I was thinking of how people would answer it when I suggested the prompt to Word Press. Thank you for a beautifully written story, even though it’s a tough, sad subject.
Thank you so much for your kind response. This was a deeply personal post and wasn’t sure of how to word it. Glad you liked it.