Nero Higher Spirit
13 Dec 10 - 03:31
For a science project on aging, I've written this short story. I'm looking for comments, support, and criticism.
Enjoy:
There once was a lonely ugly young man whose ugliness was so severe that he had no friends and no family. He was so ugly that his ugliness was given a proper medical condition: Vere Turpis Alio, which is Latin for "one really ugly fellow."
Because of this condition, this really ugly fellow was forced to live in skyscraper on Long Island, isolated from the rest of world. He was forced to live with other freaks of the world in the same building. Two of the freaks he lived with were twins that did the exact same thing as each other in microsecond exact synchronization; there was a woman with abnormally large ears that could hear a pin drop in the next room; and a boy who had albino eyes and skin but had thick bushy hair everywhere on his body. They and many other weird people with weird conditions were forced into this same skyscraper.
One day, government officials brought in two new tenants. They looked normal enough - an elderly man and his baby daughter. The whole building came to marvel at the wretchedness of the government in wretchedly forcing normal people into such a wretched place. They searched them and questioned them to no extent, but found nothing unusual about them. Finally, the old man wearily carried his daughter to their apartment.
The ugly man was kind, and helped the new tenants' luggage up 25 floors. During this journey, he was very observant and noticed the large difference in age between father and daughter. He pointed this out and politely inquired about this discrepancy.
The old man sadly said, "The two of us are cursed, cursed for a long time." He looked down at his daughter. "Perhaps me more so."
Despite the old man's sad tone, the man became obsessed with their condition. He didn't know why he was so interested, but suddenly his life had changed with such fascinating conditions. But what conditions did they have?
Everyday, he would visit them at tea time, and invite them for dinner at his apartment every other night. Despite the ugly man's ugliness and the old man's oldness, the two became very close. Soon they were discussing everything, from bickering over politics to complaining about their forced residence. The baby daughter and the ugly man also became like family. She'd rejoice at the sight of him every time he visited. They'd play together for a long time, each hour bonding them closer together.
As each day passed, the ugly man began to get hints at their condition. He first noticed the intelligence of the baby daughter. She could recognize faces easily, had an attitude, could easily solve puzzles, and could read. For the old man, the ugly man noticed that while everyone aged around him, the old man didn't age at all - his hair and beard grew longer, but his wrinkles numbered the same, and his energy did not diminish one bit.
However, as each day went by, the old man grew sadder and sadder. After growing fond of the family, the ugly man grew sympathetic of the old man.
One sleepless night, the ugly man decided to talk to the old man and discover the source of his unhappiness. He went down 5 flights of stairs to the old man's apartment, where he noticed the door was open. He entered the apartment cautiously, and saw, in the old man's bedroom, him talking to what appeared to be a white ghost.
"Please," pleaded the old man, "remove this burden from my child and me."
But the ghost refused.
The ugly man deduced this was likely the cause of the old man's unhappiness. So he entered calmly and interrupted them.
"Um. Hi."
The ghost turned to him, and fell over after looking directly at the ugly man's face.
Once he recovered, he got up, startled still.
"Who are you," asked the ugly man.
The ghost hesitated. "I...um...I am the ghost of Christmas P -"
"Why are you wearing a white coat?"
"Um...I am a florescent ghost of Christmas -"
"Why is there a pen in your coat pocket?"
"Uh...I am an intelligent, florescent ghost of -"
"And why is there a checkmark on your shoes?"
"Er...I am a fashionable, intelligent, florescent ghost of - look what do you want?"
"It seems you have the power to lift the curse that grieves my friend. We'd like if you could do that to make him happy."
The ghost hesitated. "I'm afraid someone must have the burden of such a curse, or the world...will...um...yeah, it won't be good."
The old man moaned. "Not me anymore, not me..."
The ugly man bravely said, "Then let me carry the burden!"
The ghost considered. "Uh...no."
He tilted his head and pulled something out from his pocket. "But there is something I can do."
The ugly man felt a sharp pain in his neck as the ghost near toward him. He looked at his neck.
"OMG THERE'S A FREAKING NEEDLE IN MY -"
The ugly man collapsed.
The ugly man awoke the next morning to a sore face. Perhaps he fell flat on his face?
He looked in the mirror and looked for a long time. He felt that something was different. He continued to examine the mirror for a minute before realizing what was different: the mirror didn't break when he looked into it! Not even a crack or chip! In fact, it sparkled in the sun; the ugly man was now the most beautiful man in the world! When he went down to check his always empty mailbox, every tenant noticed; instead of wincing away, they couldn't look away from his beautiful face! It was astounding! Everyone stared at this masterpiece!
Soon pictures got out and people came storming to Long Island just to get a glimpse of the most beautiful man in the world. As a result, the government kicked him out - one because he didn't have his condition anymore, and because the guards couldn't handle the crowd AND his face.
Nonetheless, his beauty and intelligence got him ways through the world - within three years, he overthrew Apple and Microsoft as the powerhouse computing corporation; he was the CEO of Hard Banana Industries, worth billions upon billions. Wozniak, Jobs, and Gates were forced to work as his servants.
Using his massive fortune, he hired a private investigator to expose the Long Island sky-rise. Everyone was freed, including the old man and his daughter. The most beautiful man brought them to the White House to live with him (he bought out the United States Government in order to help remove their debt). Though they were glad to live comfortably and freely, they didn't get to see the most beautiful man in the world very often. He was too busy travelling the world, partying and clubbing every night.
However, this was a very exhausting schedule for such a CEO, and so within ten years of such a lifestyle, he noticed the first wrinkles that blemished his absolute beauty. Freaking out, he soon found a way out of this.
The (aging) most beautiful man in the world found the fashionable, intelligent, florescent ghost, and brought him to the White House for a meeting with the old man and his daughter.
"My old friend, you and I both have a problem. I am aging. Your daughter has a burden. Is it not eternal youth? Such a thing sounds so good. But you'll never see her grow up. Ride her first bike. Graduate high school; university. Get a job, and make you proud. Get married, and gain happiness. She'll never experience any of this. You're depriving her of a good life, the only one she has.
"But, I have found a way. This ghost can lift such a burden, and bestow it upon me. I get to keep the original present the ghost originally gave me. Your daughter is free to live a normal life."
The ghost consented to this. However, the old man, bitter of the betrayal of the (aging) most beautiful man, would not allow him to use his daughter to continue to live an empty life.
"Very well, but tell me this. How old is your daughter? 50 by now? Possibly reaching 60? She normally would be able to live quite a bit longer, with her youth, but her organs didn't properly form did they? Her systems are failing - by removing such a burden, she can develop, and you can have her a bit longer."
The old man hated to see his old friend take something only to abandon him. But he had always wanted his daughter to live a proper life. So he consented.
The most beautiful, now most youthful man went back to his lifestyle. The old man tried to move along, and hoped his daughter would grow up to be a proper lady. But her undeveloped cells could not grow at age 50 - and so she died.
The old man was heartbroken by her death - and was destroyed when no one went to the funeral. Not even the most beautiful, most youthful man, who was busy in Paris buying the Eiffel Tower and using it to propose to a lady he would divorce two months later.
The years went along. Hard Banana Inc. prospered, and the most beautiful, most youthful man lived the life of celebrities to the extreme. However, one day he collapsed in the middle of a binge drinking party, and was taken to the hospital. The doctors told him that he had suffered from alcohol poisoning, and his liver was failing due to his age and immense drinking. Due to his youth, the most beautiful, most youthful man was taken off guard by this threat of death. But he had a final way to once again evade age.
He found the ghost again and they went together to the White House.
"I'm writing a report on you my friend. I'm showing the world how we turned you from a horrible disaster of nature into a man who lived life to the fullest," said the ghost on the way to the White House. "The world can now see what happened to the man who got everything he wished for. All I'm waiting for is my partner's report."
"Now I can be immortalized in reality and in words," vainly said the most beautiful most youthful man.
When they got to the White House, they found the old man a mess after the funeral, he locked himself in the master bedroom and never left, fed by servants. The old man listened to the most beautiful, most youthful man. He only replied with two sentences.
"Yes. Dying would be a relief now."
And so he handed the burden over. The most beautiful, most youthful, immortal man left.
He awoke the next morning, to find that the symptoms of liver failure were gone. Excited at the possibility of immortality, he attempted to electrocute himself, then tried drowning himself.
After, finding that he was still alive after a series of death trials, he ran out of his Manhattan penthouse and out onto the street. He screamed in triumph, having finally accomplished humanity's greatest desire.
Enjoy:
There once was a lonely ugly young man whose ugliness was so severe that he had no friends and no family. He was so ugly that his ugliness was given a proper medical condition: Vere Turpis Alio, which is Latin for "one really ugly fellow."
Because of this condition, this really ugly fellow was forced to live in skyscraper on Long Island, isolated from the rest of world. He was forced to live with other freaks of the world in the same building. Two of the freaks he lived with were twins that did the exact same thing as each other in microsecond exact synchronization; there was a woman with abnormally large ears that could hear a pin drop in the next room; and a boy who had albino eyes and skin but had thick bushy hair everywhere on his body. They and many other weird people with weird conditions were forced into this same skyscraper.
One day, government officials brought in two new tenants. They looked normal enough - an elderly man and his baby daughter. The whole building came to marvel at the wretchedness of the government in wretchedly forcing normal people into such a wretched place. They searched them and questioned them to no extent, but found nothing unusual about them. Finally, the old man wearily carried his daughter to their apartment.
The ugly man was kind, and helped the new tenants' luggage up 25 floors. During this journey, he was very observant and noticed the large difference in age between father and daughter. He pointed this out and politely inquired about this discrepancy.
The old man sadly said, "The two of us are cursed, cursed for a long time." He looked down at his daughter. "Perhaps me more so."
Despite the old man's sad tone, the man became obsessed with their condition. He didn't know why he was so interested, but suddenly his life had changed with such fascinating conditions. But what conditions did they have?
Everyday, he would visit them at tea time, and invite them for dinner at his apartment every other night. Despite the ugly man's ugliness and the old man's oldness, the two became very close. Soon they were discussing everything, from bickering over politics to complaining about their forced residence. The baby daughter and the ugly man also became like family. She'd rejoice at the sight of him every time he visited. They'd play together for a long time, each hour bonding them closer together.
As each day passed, the ugly man began to get hints at their condition. He first noticed the intelligence of the baby daughter. She could recognize faces easily, had an attitude, could easily solve puzzles, and could read. For the old man, the ugly man noticed that while everyone aged around him, the old man didn't age at all - his hair and beard grew longer, but his wrinkles numbered the same, and his energy did not diminish one bit.
However, as each day went by, the old man grew sadder and sadder. After growing fond of the family, the ugly man grew sympathetic of the old man.
One sleepless night, the ugly man decided to talk to the old man and discover the source of his unhappiness. He went down 5 flights of stairs to the old man's apartment, where he noticed the door was open. He entered the apartment cautiously, and saw, in the old man's bedroom, him talking to what appeared to be a white ghost.
"Please," pleaded the old man, "remove this burden from my child and me."
But the ghost refused.
The ugly man deduced this was likely the cause of the old man's unhappiness. So he entered calmly and interrupted them.
"Um. Hi."
The ghost turned to him, and fell over after looking directly at the ugly man's face.
Once he recovered, he got up, startled still.
"Who are you," asked the ugly man.
The ghost hesitated. "I...um...I am the ghost of Christmas P -"
"Why are you wearing a white coat?"
"Um...I am a florescent ghost of Christmas -"
"Why is there a pen in your coat pocket?"
"Uh...I am an intelligent, florescent ghost of -"
"And why is there a checkmark on your shoes?"
"Er...I am a fashionable, intelligent, florescent ghost of - look what do you want?"
"It seems you have the power to lift the curse that grieves my friend. We'd like if you could do that to make him happy."
The ghost hesitated. "I'm afraid someone must have the burden of such a curse, or the world...will...um...yeah, it won't be good."
The old man moaned. "Not me anymore, not me..."
The ugly man bravely said, "Then let me carry the burden!"
The ghost considered. "Uh...no."
He tilted his head and pulled something out from his pocket. "But there is something I can do."
The ugly man felt a sharp pain in his neck as the ghost near toward him. He looked at his neck.
"OMG THERE'S A FREAKING NEEDLE IN MY -"
The ugly man collapsed.
The ugly man awoke the next morning to a sore face. Perhaps he fell flat on his face?
He looked in the mirror and looked for a long time. He felt that something was different. He continued to examine the mirror for a minute before realizing what was different: the mirror didn't break when he looked into it! Not even a crack or chip! In fact, it sparkled in the sun; the ugly man was now the most beautiful man in the world! When he went down to check his always empty mailbox, every tenant noticed; instead of wincing away, they couldn't look away from his beautiful face! It was astounding! Everyone stared at this masterpiece!
Soon pictures got out and people came storming to Long Island just to get a glimpse of the most beautiful man in the world. As a result, the government kicked him out - one because he didn't have his condition anymore, and because the guards couldn't handle the crowd AND his face.
Nonetheless, his beauty and intelligence got him ways through the world - within three years, he overthrew Apple and Microsoft as the powerhouse computing corporation; he was the CEO of Hard Banana Industries, worth billions upon billions. Wozniak, Jobs, and Gates were forced to work as his servants.
Using his massive fortune, he hired a private investigator to expose the Long Island sky-rise. Everyone was freed, including the old man and his daughter. The most beautiful man brought them to the White House to live with him (he bought out the United States Government in order to help remove their debt). Though they were glad to live comfortably and freely, they didn't get to see the most beautiful man in the world very often. He was too busy travelling the world, partying and clubbing every night.
However, this was a very exhausting schedule for such a CEO, and so within ten years of such a lifestyle, he noticed the first wrinkles that blemished his absolute beauty. Freaking out, he soon found a way out of this.
The (aging) most beautiful man in the world found the fashionable, intelligent, florescent ghost, and brought him to the White House for a meeting with the old man and his daughter.
"My old friend, you and I both have a problem. I am aging. Your daughter has a burden. Is it not eternal youth? Such a thing sounds so good. But you'll never see her grow up. Ride her first bike. Graduate high school; university. Get a job, and make you proud. Get married, and gain happiness. She'll never experience any of this. You're depriving her of a good life, the only one she has.
"But, I have found a way. This ghost can lift such a burden, and bestow it upon me. I get to keep the original present the ghost originally gave me. Your daughter is free to live a normal life."
The ghost consented to this. However, the old man, bitter of the betrayal of the (aging) most beautiful man, would not allow him to use his daughter to continue to live an empty life.
"Very well, but tell me this. How old is your daughter? 50 by now? Possibly reaching 60? She normally would be able to live quite a bit longer, with her youth, but her organs didn't properly form did they? Her systems are failing - by removing such a burden, she can develop, and you can have her a bit longer."
The old man hated to see his old friend take something only to abandon him. But he had always wanted his daughter to live a proper life. So he consented.
The most beautiful, now most youthful man went back to his lifestyle. The old man tried to move along, and hoped his daughter would grow up to be a proper lady. But her undeveloped cells could not grow at age 50 - and so she died.
The old man was heartbroken by her death - and was destroyed when no one went to the funeral. Not even the most beautiful, most youthful man, who was busy in Paris buying the Eiffel Tower and using it to propose to a lady he would divorce two months later.
The years went along. Hard Banana Inc. prospered, and the most beautiful, most youthful man lived the life of celebrities to the extreme. However, one day he collapsed in the middle of a binge drinking party, and was taken to the hospital. The doctors told him that he had suffered from alcohol poisoning, and his liver was failing due to his age and immense drinking. Due to his youth, the most beautiful, most youthful man was taken off guard by this threat of death. But he had a final way to once again evade age.
He found the ghost again and they went together to the White House.
"I'm writing a report on you my friend. I'm showing the world how we turned you from a horrible disaster of nature into a man who lived life to the fullest," said the ghost on the way to the White House. "The world can now see what happened to the man who got everything he wished for. All I'm waiting for is my partner's report."
"Now I can be immortalized in reality and in words," vainly said the most beautiful most youthful man.
When they got to the White House, they found the old man a mess after the funeral, he locked himself in the master bedroom and never left, fed by servants. The old man listened to the most beautiful, most youthful man. He only replied with two sentences.
"Yes. Dying would be a relief now."
And so he handed the burden over. The most beautiful, most youthful, immortal man left.
He awoke the next morning, to find that the symptoms of liver failure were gone. Excited at the possibility of immortality, he attempted to electrocute himself, then tried drowning himself.
After, finding that he was still alive after a series of death trials, he ran out of his Manhattan penthouse and out onto the street. He screamed in triumph, having finally accomplished humanity's greatest desire.
