Thoughs on Mortality, Immortality and whatnot.
I am an immortal. I know this. It isn't a choice. It came from a curse something like a couple of thousand years ago that rolled up through the gene pool and landed in my lap.
See... when I was younger (yes, I was born in 1957, so this whole immortality thing is untested. One could say it's just a hypothesis at this time. Not even a theory)... any way.. when I was younger, I noticed a number of differences between my brothers and me.
Now, I had 3 brothers. 1 half brother and 2 birth brothers. However, to me, they were just brothers. Here, I feel the distinction needs to be made that my oldest brother was not a birth brother. He had the same mother but a different father. Not really sure who that father was, but mom said it was an escaped criminal, while I tend to believe it was Dick Van Dyke, who my mother knew and whom my mother had an undying hatred for. This hatred she never explained, so.... why not?
Older brother Gary can be kind of discounted. Even though I believe that thousands year old curse came from mom's side of the gene pool, I'd rather not be lumped with Gary. He was intelligent and talented and strong and good looking. Oh... and massively self destructive. He died of stupidity at the age of 50 something or other. I forget and there isn't any obituary in the entire interwebs that mentions his name and dod. Anyway.. I don't count him. Unless I should. But I don't think so. But I've been wrong. But he's dead, so not so much immortal. Unless... So.. to continue.
Brother James, the youngest. 28 months my junior. The baby of the family, who is, routinely the most frail, also passed away. He was a gentle soul, occasionally given to bouts of rage and stupidity. He was overtly religious, believing in superstition and holding it dear to his heart as if some bearded giant in the sky actually cared about his existence. It's possible. It's been said that God has a wicked sense of humor. That would be why James died at 45 from cancer of the everything. Bet whasname had a big ol' laugh over the irony of that one. I don't discount him, but if James had been bitten by the 'mortality curse, it would have been a pretty crappy life. Forever. I know he didn't want to die. He was ready for it, but he didn't want to make that trip. So, hey. Whatchagonna do?
Brother Sam. Ah, Sam was the middle of the three Mom and Dad kids. 13 months after me. 13 months before James. Sam is still going. Strong is debatable. Never the emotionally stable one, he's showing the cracks in the facade of his reality.
Last night, for example, he came to one of the parties the wife and I throw on occasion. He came, with his wife, very late. 9:45ish pm. That's when I'm starting to thing it is time to wrap up. Anyway, he lay, inebriated, on my sofa and whined about how hard it was to be an immortal, because you had to watch everyone else around you die and grow old.
Waa.
See, here's the thing. When we were young - wait - I was going to tell you about differences, right? So hold that thought "When we were young." Let's go.
Gary.. older, different dad, same mom. Tall, good looking, full head of hair, dark brown eyes, massive reader, sang like the Archangel Michael (in fact.. if angels exist..) died because his kidneys shut down after decades (not just years... DECADES) of physical abuse he had heaped on himself. His last words were probably "It wasn't my fault", because he lived in a world where someone was always against him.
James.. Youngest, dark brown hair and eyes, thin, frailish, mentally not quite as fast as the rest of the fam. Not retarded... okay... retarded in the way that retard means. Slowed down. Not a reader of literature. Not athletic, unless you count little league. That kid could hit, though. Man. Anyway. Died of pancreas failure from complications of cancer of everything.
Sam. Samuel. My best friend growing up. Diagnose manic depressive schizophrenic by folks who have a lot of letters after their name. One time Jail bird at 19. Long time Felon (nope... can't vote or get a decent job). Dark hair, dark skin, dark brown eyes, dark soul, dark life, dark, dark, dark. See the pattern? He was dark. Still is. Stole some Nebutol from a Veteran and tried to take the long sleep. Would have made it too, except he was late for work, so I went looking for him. Believes himself to be immortal and thinks that part of the requirement is that to be immortal means you care too much, so you need to not care, not feel at all. Boy, is he wrong.
Me. Cancer baby. 24th of middle of the year. Missed being the Anti Christ by ONE friggin day. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Massive reader. Survivor. Died twice (car accident and some other time I can't quite remember) and came back each time. Knows that I'm immortal and hopes it isn't true because there's too many people I would miss. Not dark, per-se. Angry, yes. Dark? No. Is a happy drunk, this one is. Remove the inhibitions and he'd buy the world a coke. Funny how one has to be drunk to be happy. Seriously, it's possible this one is the incarnation of Pan, Loki, Kokeopelli, or any other of those fun, life loving, joksterizing Mothers who are out for a good time.
And yes. I am an immortal. I tried to join immortal anonymous, but there wasn't anyone else there. Not even Sam. And speaking of that, here's there deal about that.
I believe that an immortal becomes an immortal in two and only these two ways. Keep in mind, this is my believe and I've been wrong before. Marriage taught me that.
One is through a curse. Now, a curse is just a wish your heart makes, if your heart is really dark and full of nastiness. You thought wishes were strong? When was the last time you had one of those come true? Nope.. hatred is stronger than love in the short term. Long term, love wins hands down, but for pure immediate solid wall destructive power, hatred will tear love a new one, bend it over, pretzel it up and make love pray for the end. Love cannot withstand hatred in the short term. Love can rebuild, don't get me wrong. As miracle Max said, "Sonny, true love is the greatest thing of all." And love, true love, will regenerate, survive hatred and be changed by hatred but will come back. For long distance, love has my money. But for those short sprints? Always bet on black, baby.
Number two is belief. This is a bit trickier, though no less effective. See, a curse exists long after the curser (Ha!) has cursed. It doesn't require sustained believe by the one who originally formulated the curse. It DOES require the sustained belief of the cursed. After long enough, this belief becomes part and parcel of the person, so it becomes self sustaining. It can even be passed on, like vampire or being a baptist. All that is required is belief. Strong belief. Strong as the belief that you have a right to exist. Belief so strong that it becomes a knowing, and it is that knowing that fuels the immortality.
And if another has that strength of belief, that knowing, then hey presto, whatever it is becomes passed on. Immortality or old guys in the sky... it's the same thing.
There's a catch to both methods. IF the curse is recalled by the originator of the curse, then the curse is broken. Belief, see? Knowing the curse is broken breaks the curse. But it is the originator who has to know, not the one cursed. Why? Because the cursed one knows that they are cursed. They can't unknow a curse. You can't unmake a baby. Or a cake, if you'd rather. Cakes are cuter than babies.
Same thing with method number two. For some reason that requires understanding of Quantum Entanglement, if the originally immortal, who knows he is immortal and has bestowed that immortality upon another creature (what, you thought this only applied to humans? Bigot) who also carries that knowledge around - if the original decides to withdraw that knowledge, then the recipient is on their own. The original sustains the recipient and without the original belief, the recipient cannot sustain, because the recipient has bought into the originator's reality and Quantum Entanglement ensues, with dog and cats living together, mass hysteria. My love is your love is my love, blah, blah, blah.
So, since Sam was my closest friend (and yes, my brother) when I figured out I was an immortal, I told him what I figured out and made him immortal too. By the way, it was a stupid thing to do. Unstable people should never, ever become immortal. It's just sad. Friends don't let friends immortal.
I only made that mistake one other time. This was out of love, and that's when I figured out the rule about the Quantum Entanglement of Intentions.
Okay.. that was a lot of words. Let me catch my breath.
See... when I was younger (yes, I was born in 1957, so this whole immortality thing is untested. One could say it's just a hypothesis at this time. Not even a theory)... any way.. when I was younger, I noticed a number of differences between my brothers and me.
Now, I had 3 brothers. 1 half brother and 2 birth brothers. However, to me, they were just brothers. Here, I feel the distinction needs to be made that my oldest brother was not a birth brother. He had the same mother but a different father. Not really sure who that father was, but mom said it was an escaped criminal, while I tend to believe it was Dick Van Dyke, who my mother knew and whom my mother had an undying hatred for. This hatred she never explained, so.... why not?
Older brother Gary can be kind of discounted. Even though I believe that thousands year old curse came from mom's side of the gene pool, I'd rather not be lumped with Gary. He was intelligent and talented and strong and good looking. Oh... and massively self destructive. He died of stupidity at the age of 50 something or other. I forget and there isn't any obituary in the entire interwebs that mentions his name and dod. Anyway.. I don't count him. Unless I should. But I don't think so. But I've been wrong. But he's dead, so not so much immortal. Unless... So.. to continue.
Brother James, the youngest. 28 months my junior. The baby of the family, who is, routinely the most frail, also passed away. He was a gentle soul, occasionally given to bouts of rage and stupidity. He was overtly religious, believing in superstition and holding it dear to his heart as if some bearded giant in the sky actually cared about his existence. It's possible. It's been said that God has a wicked sense of humor. That would be why James died at 45 from cancer of the everything. Bet whasname had a big ol' laugh over the irony of that one. I don't discount him, but if James had been bitten by the 'mortality curse, it would have been a pretty crappy life. Forever. I know he didn't want to die. He was ready for it, but he didn't want to make that trip. So, hey. Whatchagonna do?
Brother Sam. Ah, Sam was the middle of the three Mom and Dad kids. 13 months after me. 13 months before James. Sam is still going. Strong is debatable. Never the emotionally stable one, he's showing the cracks in the facade of his reality.
Last night, for example, he came to one of the parties the wife and I throw on occasion. He came, with his wife, very late. 9:45ish pm. That's when I'm starting to thing it is time to wrap up. Anyway, he lay, inebriated, on my sofa and whined about how hard it was to be an immortal, because you had to watch everyone else around you die and grow old.
Waa.
See, here's the thing. When we were young - wait - I was going to tell you about differences, right? So hold that thought "When we were young." Let's go.
Gary.. older, different dad, same mom. Tall, good looking, full head of hair, dark brown eyes, massive reader, sang like the Archangel Michael (in fact.. if angels exist..) died because his kidneys shut down after decades (not just years... DECADES) of physical abuse he had heaped on himself. His last words were probably "It wasn't my fault", because he lived in a world where someone was always against him.
James.. Youngest, dark brown hair and eyes, thin, frailish, mentally not quite as fast as the rest of the fam. Not retarded... okay... retarded in the way that retard means. Slowed down. Not a reader of literature. Not athletic, unless you count little league. That kid could hit, though. Man. Anyway. Died of pancreas failure from complications of cancer of everything.
Sam. Samuel. My best friend growing up. Diagnose manic depressive schizophrenic by folks who have a lot of letters after their name. One time Jail bird at 19. Long time Felon (nope... can't vote or get a decent job). Dark hair, dark skin, dark brown eyes, dark soul, dark life, dark, dark, dark. See the pattern? He was dark. Still is. Stole some Nebutol from a Veteran and tried to take the long sleep. Would have made it too, except he was late for work, so I went looking for him. Believes himself to be immortal and thinks that part of the requirement is that to be immortal means you care too much, so you need to not care, not feel at all. Boy, is he wrong.
Me. Cancer baby. 24th of middle of the year. Missed being the Anti Christ by ONE friggin day. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. Massive reader. Survivor. Died twice (car accident and some other time I can't quite remember) and came back each time. Knows that I'm immortal and hopes it isn't true because there's too many people I would miss. Not dark, per-se. Angry, yes. Dark? No. Is a happy drunk, this one is. Remove the inhibitions and he'd buy the world a coke. Funny how one has to be drunk to be happy. Seriously, it's possible this one is the incarnation of Pan, Loki, Kokeopelli, or any other of those fun, life loving, joksterizing Mothers who are out for a good time.
And yes. I am an immortal. I tried to join immortal anonymous, but there wasn't anyone else there. Not even Sam. And speaking of that, here's there deal about that.
I believe that an immortal becomes an immortal in two and only these two ways. Keep in mind, this is my believe and I've been wrong before. Marriage taught me that.
One is through a curse. Now, a curse is just a wish your heart makes, if your heart is really dark and full of nastiness. You thought wishes were strong? When was the last time you had one of those come true? Nope.. hatred is stronger than love in the short term. Long term, love wins hands down, but for pure immediate solid wall destructive power, hatred will tear love a new one, bend it over, pretzel it up and make love pray for the end. Love cannot withstand hatred in the short term. Love can rebuild, don't get me wrong. As miracle Max said, "Sonny, true love is the greatest thing of all." And love, true love, will regenerate, survive hatred and be changed by hatred but will come back. For long distance, love has my money. But for those short sprints? Always bet on black, baby.
Number two is belief. This is a bit trickier, though no less effective. See, a curse exists long after the curser (Ha!) has cursed. It doesn't require sustained believe by the one who originally formulated the curse. It DOES require the sustained belief of the cursed. After long enough, this belief becomes part and parcel of the person, so it becomes self sustaining. It can even be passed on, like vampire or being a baptist. All that is required is belief. Strong belief. Strong as the belief that you have a right to exist. Belief so strong that it becomes a knowing, and it is that knowing that fuels the immortality.
And if another has that strength of belief, that knowing, then hey presto, whatever it is becomes passed on. Immortality or old guys in the sky... it's the same thing.
There's a catch to both methods. IF the curse is recalled by the originator of the curse, then the curse is broken. Belief, see? Knowing the curse is broken breaks the curse. But it is the originator who has to know, not the one cursed. Why? Because the cursed one knows that they are cursed. They can't unknow a curse. You can't unmake a baby. Or a cake, if you'd rather. Cakes are cuter than babies.
Same thing with method number two. For some reason that requires understanding of Quantum Entanglement, if the originally immortal, who knows he is immortal and has bestowed that immortality upon another creature (what, you thought this only applied to humans? Bigot) who also carries that knowledge around - if the original decides to withdraw that knowledge, then the recipient is on their own. The original sustains the recipient and without the original belief, the recipient cannot sustain, because the recipient has bought into the originator's reality and Quantum Entanglement ensues, with dog and cats living together, mass hysteria. My love is your love is my love, blah, blah, blah.
So, since Sam was my closest friend (and yes, my brother) when I figured out I was an immortal, I told him what I figured out and made him immortal too. By the way, it was a stupid thing to do. Unstable people should never, ever become immortal. It's just sad. Friends don't let friends immortal.
I only made that mistake one other time. This was out of love, and that's when I figured out the rule about the Quantum Entanglement of Intentions.
Okay.. that was a lot of words. Let me catch my breath.