Week 7 Story: Last Man Standing

                                                          

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There once was a man who was plagued by his constant fear of death. He spent every waking moment thinking about the end. For years, he had searched for a miracle that would allow him to live forever. It wasn’t that he was afraid to grow old, he did not fear old age. He simply wanted to live forever and be around to experience everything the world had to offer for the rest of time. He looked into myths about a holy grail, an elixir of life, and even medical research looking into ways to extend his lifespan yet he found nothing that was useful. Still constantly afraid of death and desperate, the man headed to his local psychic to ask for answers.

The psychic he had gone to see had turned her home into her workplace. The walls were lined with gothic style paintings that depicted mythical creatures, wizards, ghosts, and demons. This is exactly what he imagined a psychic’s home to look like. She welcomed him in with open arms and led him to the back of the house toward a small room with a large round table in the center and candles that were placed on every surface. He sat down and they began to talk about what he was seeing her for. He told her of his fear and that he was searching for a way to live forever. The psychic did not seem surprised when she heard this and some part of him wondered if she had already known what he wanted as soon as he walked into the home.

She warned him almost immediately that living forever was not as great as it sounded. The psychic told him that if he kept pursuing this, he would come to regret it. The man could not be persuaded to change his mind and asked again for a way to get what he wanted. She reluctantly told him that he would have to make contact with a powerful being and ask for his wish to be granted. She gave him all of the information and supplies he would need for this summoning and sent him on his way. As he walked out her door, she warned him one more time about how lonely a life like that could be. He thanked her kindly and left, still determined as ever.

Less than a week later the man was ready to summon this being who could grant him immortality. He followed each instruction with care and after repeating the words written down a great force shook his home. In a puff of smoke, a very tall and lanky man appeared. He had to have been at least 7 feet tall and was extremely pale. He did not seem pleased to be summoned and asked the man what he wanted. The man told him of his desire to live forever. The tall man laughed when he heard this but for some reason, he did not argue with him. He told the man that if he wished to live forever then that is what he would do. While he was thrilled to hear this, he couldn’t help but feel like the tall man knew something he didn’t. Regardless, he took the small vial the tall man offered him without question and the tall man disappeared the same way he had shown up, in a puff of smoke. As soon as the tall man vanished, he looked at the purple liquid swirling in the vial, pulled the cork off the top, and guzzled it down.

The man spent many years traveling the world, never settling down in one place for too long for fear that others would know that he lived forever. He still aged but it was at a much slower pace than most and it became obvious after 10 years in one place that he was not aging like normal.

A few hundred years down the line, the man grew weary and did not enjoy life as much as he used to. He never felt any rush to do anything or go somewhere because he knew he had all the time in the world. He soon started to realize that even though he would live forever, those around him and those to come may never get the chance. The temperature began to rise dramatically and nowhere seemed to cool off regardless of the time of year. Lake dried up and the rain stopped falling. Entire species of animals ceased to exist and soon there were almost no animals in the wild. Eventually, no one was able to grow crops and soon after the livestock died off as well. Four hundred years after he asked to live forever and he was alone on a barren wasteland of a planet, wishing death would come for him next even though he knew it wouldn’t. He was immune to all poisons, weapons, and even starvation. The man quickly understood why the tall man laughed when he heard the request. Did he know this whole what was coming? Did the psychic know too when she warned him of how lonely this life could be? Regardless, the man spent eternity wandering the earth as the last man alive, doomed to live forever.

Author's Note: This story was inspired by the Japanese Fairy Tale "The Man Who Did Not Wish to Die." In that story, a man realizes his fear of death and searches for the Exlir of Life in order to live forever. He ends up praying to a god who sends him to the country of perpetual life. There he sees the people who reside there poisoning themselves every day and wishing for death. At first, he does not understand why they would not be happy to live forever but after hundreds of years, he too finds himself wishing for the end. After praying to the god again to end his life, he is sent back home to the time before he left and warned not to seek eternal life again. He ends up spending the rest of his days a happy man. I really enjoyed this idea of someone fearing death because this is such a common fear for most people. In my retelling, I still wanted to focus on a man who seeks eternal life but instead of getting sent somewhere else he is forced to live through the destruction of our planet over the years and is unable to escape. I have always thought that the idea of living forever sounded terrible and lonely. The thought of watching those you love pass away throughout the years and eventually becoming the last one sounded like a nightmare. For this story, I wanted to focus on that terrifying idea of loneliness and how something like eternal life could sound so promising but end up being a curse. 

Story Source: Japanese Fairy Tales by Yei Theodora Ozaki (1908).