the curse of immortality

[WP] After a few million years you just remembered you cursed a mortal with eternal life. It was only meant for a few hundred years to teach him a lesson.

*****

Paul Krill was born on January 7th, 1990. He was well loved by his parents, patient with his friends. He grew up kind, he studied to become a librarian and he did just that. Paul was generous. He read countless stories to children and helped the elderly find anything they needed in the labyrinth of books. One morning, the morning, an especially old woman walked into the library. Paul stood up from the front desk and walked over to her.

“Good morning, Ma’am. Need help finding anything today?” he asked.

“Piss off, you sodden shit!” the woman said, pushing Paul out of the way.

Paul backed away, he apologized for his aggression, for assuming the woman needed help, for anything he might have done that could have offended her. He told his wife, Clara, about the incident later that evening. Paul and Clara cooked together most nights if their schedules allowed them to. It was fun, they saved money, and it made going out a special occasion. Tonight’s dinner was shepherd’s pie, they’d perfected the recipe after a few months of completely botching it.

“Maybe she was mentally ill? You get loads of crazies in the library, don’t you?” Clara suggested, she buried her spoon into the golden crust.

“The crazy thing is that I never saw her leave,” Paul said. He took a few bites, but the food tasted a little off to him. Strange considering it was his favorite.

“I asked Maureen and everyone if they’d seen her at all and no one knew what I was talking about.” he added.

“Maybe you’re going crazy then?” Clara said, her nose scrunched the way it always did before she laughed at her own joke. It made Paul smile and he forgot about the whole thing after hearing her laugh.

The generation ships flew lightyears and lightyears away, though the ships that were first sent out could only go an eighth of light speed. Planets, asteroids, moons, everything was mined and technology advanced. Ships grew faster as generations passed. The ships flew away from Earth which had long since been inhospitable, no one was sure when it would be safe to return and so it was never planned. The witch, Enkae White, flew on these ships, casting spells to make sure that no one recognized that she hadn’t been aging even after the millions of years that had passed.

Enkae White slept well most nights, she had a luxurious life on the ships, she protected the passengers, occasionally the ship itself. She helped the captains of the past, the present, and was dedicated to helping them in the future. Enkae was the ship’s eternal grandmother, every mother was fascinated with Mother Enkae’s ability to put any child to sleep within seconds. She lent a helping hand to the young, giving them the extra energy they needed to learn more about sciences, about how to advance their technology to find a place they could call home.

One night, Enkae dreamed of a time when she wasn’t as kind, when she was angry at the world for taking away her family in exchange for her twisted powers - the hateful rituals, the sacrifices.

She remembered the day she was told that she would no longer die, she ran away from home outraged, not that it felt like one to her anyway. She remembered walking into a library, she remembered the man that asked if she needed anything. She did need something, she wanted someone to feel what she felt. And so he did.

She woke up, her eyes wide. She walked to the captain’s quarters.

“We need to go back to Earth.” she said.

And they did.

The passengers were excited, each generation having more and more to look forward to. Lifespans grew, through both magic and science, and Enkae waited. She waited, she hoped, and she prayed. The journey back home took much less time than it took to fly away.

When they were only a lightyear away, the ship’s scientists had already confirmed that Earth was desolate. Nothing could be detected that resembled human life or technology, but Enkae still encouraged them to fly. She would look for him, the man she left alone. The ship landed confidently in the plains of what used to be the midwestern United States. The passengers took in fresh air for the first time in all of their lives except one. They built upon the land, nurturing the planet back to life.

Years passed and life returned mostly to normal, buildings were risen, politics ran amuck, teenage and family drama for every house. The world no longer needed Enkae’s help and so she was free to search. Enkae searched for years for the man, she asked the ship’s old captains for help, the new government, she asked anyone that would listen.

One morning, she took a ferry to an underwater city. In the middle of the city was a library and she walked quickly inside. The place was busy with people reading, children running around, the smell of fresh coffee being brewed in the cafe upstairs. She saw a man stand up from his desk, he walked over to her.

“Good morning, Ma’am. Need help finding anything today?” he asked.

****

THE END.