The static din resonates effortlessly through the furnished living room in which they sit. Both focus intently on the screen ahead, now a collage of reds and blues foreshadowing a weeks worth of weather. The woman, through cracked lips, finds her voice and says “Isn’t that odd.”
The man, shutting his eyes only slightly, shakes and replies “What’s that?”
“Rain today, snow tomorrow. I’d almost expect a hurricane next, yeah?”
Uninterested, he lets her response stand as is. His bulky fingers apply pressure to the gel buttons of the remote as the channel switches over. A man holds a pill the size of a dime. His lips move fervently and tell fantasies. Leaning back, he listens intently.
“It’s lies you know,” says she with a pair of rolling eyes.
“Have you heard correctly?” Emotions grow as does his concentration. “A thousand years he says, think of the things I could accomplish in a thousand years.”
A snort, “I bet you’d amount to the same you do today. Besides, who would want to live such a long stretch?”
His eyes don’t leave the screen, “Who wouldn’t? The money, the people, the time - think of the possibilities.”
“All I see is loneliness and funerals. Not worth it if you ask me.”
“Not if you took one too. One pill and we’d live together forever.”
Another snort to deter him, “Change the channel. You’re talking crazy.”
He moves away from the couch and walks inside the kitchen. The phone comes off the dock at his demand and his eyes wander around the dividing wall looking for the phone number. He dials and waits.
“Don’t tell me -”
His voice cut hers off, “Hi, I’d like to order two of the pills you’re advertising. The youth ones, yes.” A pause and a slight tap of the foot on the floor tiles, “My wife doesn’t believe they work, you ensure a thousand years at least, right?” A smile comes across his face and he peels the mouthpiece down, “He says more than a thousand years.”
Her eyebrows rise as she grabs hold of the remote. The channel switches back to the weather.
“Credit card information, of course,” he lowers the phone again and speaks up, “could you get my wallet there on the table honey?”
Unable to ignore, she obliges and carries the piece of worn leather to him. His smile could light a small town with its radiance. “What’s it cost?”
“There’s no price too high for eternity,” he answers.
She finds her place on the couch again and fits snuggly in the warm indent. The phone conversation lasts another ten minutes before he returns to his space on the couch. His smile is still wide as he catches the end of a reality television program. Eager to speak, he mentions, “I think we should look into our futures. Our options have opened you know.”
Unexcited, “How so?”
“With these extra years we’ve increased our chances of hitting the lottery. Maybe we’ll discover a cure or something. I mean, there’s so much we can do really. What do you think?”
“We have too many bills to be paid to buy lottery tickets let alone fund research.”
His smile increases, “That’s the beauty of it; this extra time will allow us to earn more money. We don’t need to worry about now when we have forever.”
“I’m going to go to sleep.”
“Dream of the future.”
With a false smile, she finds her way up the stairs and to the bedroom. It takes a good hour before she can fall asleep, an hour which she uses to formulate an escape plan from her husband’s crazy ideas. Three days pass with rain, snow, and hail as forecasted. Now forty degrees colder than Monday, they sit in front of the television set crossing their glove cased fingers hoping for warmer temperatures. A knock comes at the door. He stands from his space and peaks through the looking glass in the door. The wide smile and glossy-eyed look returns to his face as he opens the door with a “Come on in.” From the depths of the blizzard, a man in brown steps onto the carpet in his frosty work boots. In his hands are a sign pad and a brown box.
“Thanks for the slight reprieve,” he says while organizing the sign pad.
He nods, “Of course. No sense freezing.”
“If you could sign here,” he points to a small box, “I’ll be on my way.”
He grabs hold of the pad and happily signs his name within. Handing it back, he takes hold of the package. “Thank you for this.”
“It’s my job. You two stay warm.”
He watches him climb down the front steps before shutting the door and carrying the box to the couch. His knife carves a thin line through the tape allowing the sides to flap down revealing a smaller box inside labeled ‘Youth Pills’. “It’s here, can you believe it!”
“Are you really going to take them?” she inquired.
“Aren’t you?”
“I told you,” she started with a harsh tone, “I don’t trust them.”
He opens the box and retrieves the pills. A blank stare goes on for a minute before he looks to his wife and offers once more, “Are you sure?”
“Very sure.”
“Here’s to fame and glory then.” Dropping it in, he swallows hard as it falls down his throat and into his stomach where instant youth mixes with acid. His wife watches curiously.
“You don’t look any more famous.”
“Give it time.”
They were given two days before the hail turned to larger hail and the ground started to shake. Weather men hid as did the rest of the country as nature overpowered man thrusting it into dire times. Shelters opened across the land but were crushed by the combined forces of Zeus and god. A day later, the world was a sheet of ice with one surviving man.
He’d survive for a thousand years more.
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