“And all I can think about is that it’s not over and I’m tired and I’m ready to go but I’m still here. And I have to do it again and again and again.” He leaned back in his chair. “You think about that before you tell me I’ve got it easy.”I stayed silent a while before speaking. “So why don’t you end it?””Suicide?””If your life is such a hell,” I asked, “why bother? Why go through it again and again and all those times?””Because of…” He stopped and looked at the ceiling. After a moment he shrugged. “Because of children,” he said, “because of smiles and sunshine and ice cream.””You’ve got to be kidding.””You don’t like ice cream?” Elijah shook his head, “It’s the best. Imagine how excited I was when someone finally invented it. “”Sunshine and smiles don’t make all that other stuff go away.” I said, “This isn’t a fairy land.””No,” he said. “It’s the real world. And the real world is the most amazing thing any of us will ever experience. Have you ever climbed a mountain? Walked through a garden? Played with a child? This isn’t exactly a revelation John. People have been praising the simple pleasures since even before I was born, and that’s a very long time.””You don’t do any of those things.””But I have my memories,” Said Elijah. “And I have even simpler things. Music. Food. Everybody likes bacon.””I’m a vegetarian.””Asparagus then,” said Elijah, “roasted in pan. A little olive oil and a little salt – you the get the most incredible flavor – almost like a nut. But deep and rich and the textures just perfect…””I’ve tried it.””The world is more than sadness,” said Elijah, “i have a hundred thousand memories in my head. I can’t remember all of them, or maybe even most of them, but they are so much happier than sad. For every dead mother or brother or child there are a hundred breezes, a hundred sunsets, a hundred memories of falling in love. Have you ever kissed anyone, John?””I don’t see how that’s any of your business.””A first kiss is important. Most people only get one. But I can remember a hundred thousand of them. How could I give that up?” he shook his dead, smiling for the first time. “The world never gets old, John.”

− Dan Wells −