Short Story Challenge - Day 10

As I promised, this month I will do another writing challenge, this time the focus will be on storytelling, and I will try to immortalize a fragment of life, a short story about something that made me wonder, being that an idea or a peek into a stranger's life. Enjoy!

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A race against Time (16.11.2022)

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All of us will die, as nobody can defeat Time and Death. Given enough time, even the stars die. We live under the sign of impermanence. And I start to feel this one lately.

It was like yesterday when I was a top gymnast, in the best shape ever. Then I discovered Tai Chi and Qi Gong, and eventually, in a stroke of luck, I learn the secret techniques that were supposed to make me live longer and healthier. After a while, I start to practice less. Moved to another place, and started another job. Got more and more swirled by the day-to-day world and a few years later, I stopped almost completely. Do not get me wrong, I am still doing the Magic exercises once a week or month, and I am still trying them for a whole week or month when illness comes. But slowly, insidious, the regeneration ability is decreasing, and the body will take longer to recover from training or excesses that used to be healed in hours 4-5 decades ago. I think that what I experience is called getting old.

And even if I still can use Magic (qi, prana, or whatever you call it) to sort out one issue or another, as soon as I deal with one issue, another one tends to appear. They are coming too fast now, and if they keep coming, sometime in the near future, my Magic will be depleted. And I will become a mere mortal again. Funny enough, as my werewolves and vampires friends would say, being a wizard can let you live a long life, but eventually, Time will catch up with you.

There are only two ways to deal with it. First, you can realize that you will eventually die, and come at peace with it. Or second, you can find a big enough energy source to keep yourself young for almost forever. But fighting against Nature will always take a toll, and some unnatural choices need to be made. And even then, eventually, you will lose. The forbidden magic is forbidden for a reason. Quite often leads to madness. In their quest to live forever, some magicians choose to lose their humanity. And no, this is not what I would choose, the price is too high.

So, maybe I will have another chance. maybe reincarnation is a thing. I do not believe in it, I did not believe in reincarnation in my previous life either. But we will see. At least I can hope. And time is passing, second by second, day by day, year after year. Tic-tac, tic-tac!