The exercise:
Today we write about: immortality.
Had a very full day here. This morning we drove up to Summerland (about 15 minutes north of Penticton) to pick up our meat order for the winter - we're splitting a side of beef with Kat's parents and maybe one other couple as well. Our freezer is very, very full now.
Then this evening we had our farming friends over for dinner, which was a lot of fun as usual. They've invited us to a Halloween party by their place next weekend which we're really looking forward to - me in particular, as I haven't dressed up for years. No idea what I'm going as, but I'll figure something out.
Mine:
Scientists have worked long and hard for this moment. They've skipped meals, neglected families, forgotten friends, denied their bodies food and sleep. All for this, so that their names will be in every history book from this day forward.
So they believe, anyway.
But today is merely the first day of the rest of their limited lives, so let's not shatter their dreams so soon. We'll allow them a little time to savour this apparent victory, shall we?
Yes, I think so. Besides, it would be terribly unfortunate should we appear ungrateful. Certainly they will make us out to be the bad guys once the dust eventually settles, so let's not give them any additional ammunition.
Summerland sounds like a very appropriate placename for a desert :) And the Halloween party sounds good too; will we get to see how you and Kat dress up?
ReplyDeleteI'm intrigued in your story as to what it is that's achieved immortality; my guess was some kind of bacteria or virus, but I'm not sure now.
Immortality
How would you handle immortality? Athena amuses herself by entering pub quizzes on her own, getting blind drunk and still answering every question correctly. Bacchus runs a vineyard now, producing small runs of wines that make critics and other vintners alike weep when they taste them, and Pan's a playboy, hanging round Monte Carlo seducing women who ought to know better.
Me? Well, after Perseus chopped my head off – the mighty hero picking on a feeble woman – and paraded it around the islands for a while, he left it on a rock and went off partying. Nemesis spotted it and picked it up and brought it back to me, and made me an offer I didn't want to refuse.
So here I am, my head sewn back on and immortality more bearable now I can see where I'm going again, petrifying the strange hybrids that Nemesis creates so that we can bury them where archaeologists dig. Its kind of fun, falsifying the fossil record with every stony glare.
In life without end
ReplyDeleteMutable, immutable
Musing my way
Onto the history books
Roaming through
Time
Along the byways of life and
Love.
Nice ones, All.
ReplyDeleteImmortality
The rock (Uluru). It stood out, looming, impossible to miss, like it had always been there, almost immortal, at least to us with finite lives. It changed colour from dawn to dusk, season to season; that was what changed about it.
From the air, though, it looked like it was put there by a giant hand, long ago, too long to remember - maybe it wasn't immortal after all.
The spirits of the caretakers of this land might remember. Maybe it is they who are really immortal?
Greg - pictures of us all dressed up? Maybe. We'll see how the (my) costumes turn out.
ReplyDeleteLoved the tone of your piece. And that last line definitely made me smile.
Morganna - that's really quite lovely. Meditative.
David - cute :)
World of Exp. - enjoyed the ebb and flow of that.
I'm feeling somewhat inspired by the feel of Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson and Heroes of Olympus novels. So what better subject to emulate them on than "immortality".
ReplyDelete(Speaking of which, have you read the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series? There's a great part in one of the last couple books where Apollo starts reciting some haikus. Funny stuff.)
---
The King was pure evil. Concentrated evil. Evil in a can. Just add water. Jason knew he had to stop him at all costs. Jason swung his sword.
It passed right through him. Oh. That's right. The King is immortal. Jason forgot that little detail. Well, now, how do you kill an immortal?
The chamber filled with evil laughter. The King threw back his head, chuckling. "You thought you could stop me?" he taunted. "I'm immortal! There is nothing you can do to me now!"
The King raised his axe toward the heavens, and brought it down on Jason's shoulder. It passed right through him.
"WHAT?!" The King bellowed.
"Oh, did I forget to tell you? I'm immortal, too." Jason smiled. He may not be able to defeat The King, but he would sure try. And he had the power, if necessary, to continue fighting him for an eternity. Anything to keep him from releasing his evil on the world.
Drake - nope, that's another one I'll have to add to The List.
ReplyDeleteI liked the twist, as I certainly didn't see it coming!