Forever

Forever. Can you imagine that? What would it be like to live forever? To be immortal? None know better than Parker Green. He's lived almost a thousand years already, with no signs of leaving this world anytime soon. He also has the added advantage of not ageing. He is ageless. Time does not mark his skin, the years that pass make no difference to him. He remains forever young.

So, Parker, what is it like to live forever? He tells me he doesn't know, asking instead if I know what it's like knowing I'll die sometime. I take a moment before I give my answer; a little sad. The clock ticks away to a certain point, only, I don't know when that point is exactly. No one does.
Parker seems surprised. He hadn't expected me to have an answer. He ponders a moment before responding. "Well, I suppose it's relaxing by comparison," he says. "Time is not something I have to worry about. I have all the time in the world to do everything I want to with my life."

Silence falls and we both look up at the clock on the wall nearby, simply watching the hands tick round as time passes, second by second. I look back and ask him whether he there is sadness, knowing those around him, those he loves and holds dear, are not immortally ageless like him. "I haven't gotten to that stage yet," he says candidly. "I suppose it will be a little, when that stage comes. Having to watch my beautiful wife grow old, right in front of me is pretty torturous. But on the other hand, I'll get to watch my family for generations to come."

Parker Green, while acknowledging the melancholy of his timeless existence, ever the optimist, prefers to focus on the positives that comes from having the type of life that lasts forever. So would you want to live forever if you were given the chance? Would you stay forever young given the choice? Would you like to be immortal and ageless? All these questions and more, I shall leave you to ponder.