FirstLineFiction beta

from Contest #6

Almost everyone thought the man and the boy were father and son.

Damien, the alleged son, hated this. Damien hated everything. He hated the fact that he had to pretend to be a child, he hated his cliche name and most of all he hated not being normal, but he could never change that, because nothing about everything else was normal.

Victor was older looking, but younger to Damien if you counted the years he had walked after his death. Victor liked peace, he liked silence, he liked intelligence and he liked Damien.

They were quite the pair. Opposites, in a mild sense of the word, not so much to each other as to themselves.
The old young man and the young old man stayed in the smallest town they could find, on top of the largest hill around, in what appeared to be a small cottage, and was, in reality, just a small cottage. The hill overlooked a cliff, which overlooked the sea.

Everything that was not normal in that house was only them. Because they had to live forever. Victor called them the un-dead. Actually, everyone alive was un-dead. But then again, everyone would not be alive forever.

"For-ever" sighed Damien as he pushed open the door of their little cottage.
Victor, sitting at the table, smiled. "You know, they delivered the newspaper in the morning. That's quite a positive indication"
"I hate you" said Damien. There was no malice in his voice. It was a fact.
"I know" smiled Victor.

This happened everyday. Damien rushed out at day break and shuffled in an hour later. Everyone who saw him coming saw an angry little boy walking quickly down the road from the hill. All he would do was make eye contact wtih them, and turn back. This had been happening for years. Of course the people in the town were suspicious, who wouldn't be? But who would small people of a small town tell? They told each other. Then everyone knew, and there was nothing to discuss anymore. Besides, that small boy's father was nice enough. Always a smile on his face when he came into town to buy groceries and say hello.

Once a week, Victor went to the town, said hello and bought groceries.
"For-ever" he smiled as he opened the door of their little cottage.
Damien was sitting by the window looking at the cliff, but from there couldn't see the sea, only the cliff.
"I hate you", he said.
"I know" smiled Victor. Then he went and threw the groceries off the cliff which you could see from the window, into the sea, that you couldn't.

Victor was writing his memoirs. He had been writing them as long as he could remember, and they would never end because he intended to write forever. Damien hated Victor's memoirs, but he liked reading them. Heaven knows they had nothing else to do.

Over the years, in times when they had nothing to do, they had been compelled to tell people what they were. Those who believed in God, believed what they said, those who didn't, demanded proof. But Victor and Damien never gave proof to those who asked, because then they would have something to do.

However, even those who knew what they were, were never told why they were. When Damien told people that he and Victor were un-dead, he would first be forced to answer many questions.
Yes, they could sleep. It was the only thing that kept them from going insane.
No, they didn't need to eat. But they could.
Yes, they could walk during the day.
No, the moon had no effect on their behaviour.

Finally they would ask why he and Victor were here. This question was always asked with considerable fear. They always thought they were going to bite and infect them so they would drink blood or turn into wolves, or some other nonsense. Damien couldn't tell people their purpose. It was not that he wasn't allowed to do so, it was just that it seemed cruel. He would always say "We're not sure why we came back from the dead. That part is a bit unclear."

Most people stopped asking questions after this. Most people didn't believe this either, they thought Damien was going to jump at their necks as soon as they turned around.

He could have, but Victor wouldn't let him. And that was why he hated Victor.
Victor always said that this was not necessary. Damien knew it wasn't, but that wasn't any reason not to do it.

Their true purpose, was to outlast. When they died, they waited for judgement. But judgement did not come. That was where Victor first met Damien. While they were waiting. They kept waiting, for what seemed like forever. But it wasn't even close to it, they both knew that well now.
Finally, their wait was over. A return to life was a gift, they were told, and they must return.

When they asked why, they were simply told "to outlast."

Then they were alive. Things seemed quite good initially. There were diseases and lawlessness, Kingdoms and War, and they thought it would not be hard to outlast the people around them. But as time went on, these people, the humans showed no sign of ever dying,. The human race seemed destined to survive forever, and Victor told Damien that it looked like they would live forever.

It took some time for Damien to hate life. He did. More than anything, he hated being Victor's son.

Then things finally looked up, a hundred years later. Everything was gone, the nature that all the humans were trying to save, took back what was its own.

The human race was gone. Victor and Damien prepared to die.

They waited many years, but they did not die. They waited and waited, but they had no other option. Victor had run out of paper too. Finally, a few more years later, a ship sailed towards them. A ship, from which descended humans who came and embraced whom they thought were fellow survivors. They yelled in shock and delight about the man and the boy. Almost everyone thought they were father and son.

Painted in large letters at the side of the ship was 'Forever'.

back to Contest #6