Eugene sat on a bench in a sunny park, watching the vibrant young people bustling around him. They were all clearly office workers who were escaping on their lunch breaks to enjoy the beautiful day. Eugene, having just turned 77 years-old and thus retired a decade ago, missed working. He missed having a purpose. He never married or had kids. His friends all passed away. He didn’t have much to do except sit and watch the foolish young people who took for granted the fact that their entire lives were ahead of them. That’s all Eugene wanted: to go back and do it all over again.
He had been watching Liam for months now, an attractive 20-something professional who always seemed to be surrounded by friends and lovely women. Many decades ago, an entity had granted Eugene one wish of his choosing. He had been holding onto it, scared to wish for the wrong thing. It was finally time to use it.
“I wish to trade places with that fellow over there,” Eugene whispered softly, eyes locked onto Liam’s handsome face. “Let me be young again.”
He could hardly wait. No more aching joints. No more envying youth. No more loneliness and boredom.
The next morning, he awoke feeling euphoric. He found himself in a trendy apartment with expensive-looking furniture. Photos lined the wall showing happy moments. He found the nearest mirror and stared at the attractive young face looking back at him. He had gotten his wish. He sobbed wildly with relief.
After a short adjustment period, Eugene decided to visit a doctor for a check-up. Some unsettling symptoms had started to hit him almost immediately after the change; his skin looked discolored and his stomach ached constantly. He found a business card on the refrigerator and decided to start there.
“What can I do for you today, Liam?” the doctor asked as he entered the office Eugene was waiting in.
“I’d like a check-up,” Eugene answered.
The doctor gaped at him with a puzzled look on his face. “But you’ve just had a check-up. And we’ve discussed your results in great detail. Did you have more questions about your diagnosis?”
“What diagnosis?” Eugene asked, his heart thumping in his chest.
The doctor nodded sadly. “Every patient deals with a prognosis like yours differently. Some need to hear it a few times to believe it. Liam, I’m referring to your stage three pancreatic cancer.”
Eugene’s abdomen hurt worse than ever.
Even though several months had passed, Liam was still recovering from the shock of that morning when he awoke to find himself in the body of a 77 year-old man. However, there was one thing that was helping him to get over it. He had visited a doctor for a check-up and found that despite the normal effects that come along with aging, he was pretty healthy. His jolly doctor had said enthusiastically: “Keep up like this and you’ll have another 20 years ahead of you!”
Twenty years. The last doctor he spoke with had grimly told him he had about a 3% chance of seeing his 30th birthday. Liam smiled. “I’m old as fuck,” he said, staring at his wrinkled face in the mirror. “But I’m healthy.”
Submitted April 15, 2016 at 08:24PM by sp00kyscary http://ift.tt/1V6CM9R DarkTales
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