Being Made Forever

 

            Artemis was four years old when he noticed something strange about his touch upon any and every life form, if weak, feeble or damaged the creature would revive, returning to its normal, created state of life and vibrancy. If still strong and robust, the creature would become amplified, the best word that he could think of when observing the fruit of his singular touch. He wondered why there was any sickness, suffering or death within the world, as the touch of a human upon life of any kind could restore its vitality.

              From that moment onward, life became a type of challenge, seeing how many lifeforms he could touch, store, revive, and in the cases of death, bring back from inanimation. Uncertain of what his touch would do to healthy, strong, and vibrant humans, he began to wear light cotton gloves, picking up the idea from a television show he saw about jewelers and their handling of precious metals and jewels.

              His touch upon himself seemed to have no impact, which from a logical perspective made perfect sense, as he was the source (he assumed) of this power, as one cannot pour the contents of a jar into itself. When school began, he knew that wearing gloves all of the time would be considered odd and make him the source of verbal and possible physical abuse from his peers. Keeping his hands in his pockets as he traveled the hallways, he kept to himself for the most part, interacting with only a few close friends and refusing to hold hands with the far too many girls that seemed desperate for his attention.

              On the day that he turned eighteen, he made the decision to travel as widely as possible, making the offer to certain people in certain places at certain times, for unending, unchanging life, remaining young and beautiful, knowing that some would accept, and others would not. His teen years were spent observing people, watching their interests, saddened and grieved at the shallowness, hollowness, and ignorance of the majority of the population.

              Having saved every penny from his multiple jobs during the last five years, he bought a plane ticket to Hollywood, with his eye and attention on a small group of people, knowing beforehand what their response would be to his offer. He spent his first six months in the pretend world of media, making connections, becoming known, and gaining trust, to finally make his offer to the biggest upcoming actress, to then hear the words, "Absolutely, yes."

              Within a week of making his offer and staying true to his word, he began receiving huge sums of money from friends of the actress for the opportunity to enjoy what she had been given, not a situation he ever could have imagined, allowing him to provide for all of his needs and the needs of his family back in North Dakota. Artemis understood that the path that so many of the young, beautiful, successful actors had chosen would not end well but he was in no position to cast judgment upon anyone, believing that each person inherently possessed the right to make the choice for themselves.

              With so many connections and now a well-known name, he found himself mingling among the best and brightest in the entertainment industry, sipping champagne and making small talk with people he did not know but seemed to "know" him. The clock approached midnight, and he noticed a young woman across the room, staring at him, wondering why she had never approached him. He made eye contact, approached her, and started a conversation by asking about her, for he knew that everyone loved to talk about themselves. She shared her story of traveling to Hollywood after being a small-town actress in the Pacific Northwest and making only small steps forward in her career. It was a story he had heard more times than he could count, which gave him the opportunity to make his offer, which she immediately and resolutely turned down.

              "That sounds like a really bad idea," she said, "people are not meant to live forever because life has a beginning, a story, and an end, but without the end, people will only continue to grow more and more depraved, lost in their own delusions and selfishness. I look forward to an eternity free of the foolishness that surrounds us all. I look forward to growing old gracefully and honestly."

              "That is by far the best and wisest answer I've heard since I've been in Hollywood," he said, "even though I don't understand the source or purpose of my ability, I'm certain that it is valuable in that it reveals the true nature of most people." He and she exchanged a hug and went their separate ways, he wishing her the best of luck on her acting journey, thrilled at finally meeting someone with common sense and a good grasp on reality.

              He spent the next week thinking through the next steps for himself, wondering if imposing eternal youth and beauty on so many in this land of make believe was an act of love, a curse upon them, or a misuse of a power that he didn't understand. He listed his condominium for sale with a real estate agent, to have it sell with the week, allowing him to hire a moving service and ship all of his belongings back to North Dakota, to fill a beautiful and comfortable home near his friends and family.

              As the years passed, he continued to watch the career trajectories of those he touched in Hollywood, to see most of them drop off of positive public opinion, fall into substance abuse situations, and eventually be forgotten all together. While Haley Marie, the young woman he met at the midnight party became a raging success, aged beautifully, and moved from successful role to successful role. A situation that stirred feelings of joy within him, happy that she chose the path of natural life and honesty.

              After Artemis moved back to his hometown, he began a counseling service with a secret side job of healing the sick, the injured, both human and animal, nearly overcome with joy at each interaction, knowing that his new work was actually introducing value into the lives of so many good and honest people. It was with intense focus on not drawing attention to himself that he was able to help so many, knowing that gaining a reputation of being a miraculous healer would negatively impact the quality of his life.

              Spending his days in his counseling service, he would spend his evening visiting the hospitals, the assisted care facilities, and scenes of accidents, where his touch always performed and brought more people to life and stability than he could count. Though he did keep meticulous track of his work each day in a daily planner, he technically could have counted just how many he actually helped but not knowing the count gave his work a level of excitement.

              As he reached his sixtieth birthday, his friends and family continued to question him as to him why he never married, why he never dated, and what would happen to his incredible wealth and success when he finally passed away, a question that struck him as odd, but was probably not unreasonable. He created a trust fund that would leave his wealth to a handful of philanthropic organizations and close friends.

              On his seventieth birthday, he traveled back to Hollywood and reconnected with Haley Marie, congratulating her on her work and encouraging her that she made the right decision to grow old gracefully and beautifully, wishing that he and she could spend the rest of their final years together.

              On his seventy-first birthday, he received a visitor at home, the now still beautiful and graceful Haley Marie stood at his step, giving him the gift of companionship that he knew was good and right from the first time he met her. Within the week, a small ceremony was had, and Artemis now had the beautiful relationship he so deserved.