Backstory for the prompt on a writing blog was:
People only age when they move. Some folks live for centuries, only leaving home to buy groceries. Others age quickly, traveling from town to town. Today, you meet someone who claims to have traveled the world. The odd thing is, they only look 10 years old.
This was my take on it. ______________________________________________________
I’d never understood the travellers. Turning up in quiet, sedate towns, decrepit and breathless. Looking for experiences I suppose, but everywhere was just like here. Looking to avoid movement as much as possible. Empty. Slow. Boring. People with kids were a bit weird as well, but I suppose there was a logic in the continuation of life. Especially with all the grant money now, as they tried to rebuild the shattered birth rate. Still, it was still rare to see children. With a toddler there was no way movement could be realistically avoided, and not many people were willing to literally trade decades of their life, no matter what the tax credit scheme was worth to you.
So a kid, that claimed to be a traveller was enough to make me listen. I stood as still as possible. The monthly grocery run was bad enough as it was without having to expend extra minutes and hours gesticulating around.
“Where are your parents?”, I asked. I really wanted to meet people crazy enough to have a kid, and then also go travelling where they couldn’t even keep him penned in at home for a few hours a day. They must be ageing quickly enough that you could see the cells dying in huge chunks.
“Parents?”, the child asked. “Why do you ask about them?”
“Well, because someone must be looking after you?”
“Someone is looking after us all, my friend. Where are your parents?”
“Where are my…. ? What?”
“You asked. And then I asked. Is that not how a conversation is supposed to go?”
“Yes, but you didn’t answer. And I’m an adult!”
“Interesting of you to judge a person’s experience by their appearance, given the variation in the speed people go through their life span in this dimension.”
I gaped. It required little movement which was pleasing, but it was also coincidentally my instinctive reaction.
“I feel like we should start over. I am very grateful to you for stopping to talk to me. Few seem willing to spend time talking to me on my travels. Perhaps that’s why you are finding the birth rate such a challenge, hmm?”
“OK”, I said vaguely.
“OK, what?”
“Let's start over?”
“Excellent suggestion!”, said the child, and held out its hand. “My name is Ionis.” I looked at the hand being proffered. “Hello Ionis. I’m Jason.”
“Ah, shaking is movement. Of course. Foolish of me. I’ve not been here long, it's taking some adjusting. Jason is an interesting name. Sounds very old fashioned.”
“Well, it wasn’t when I was born!”, I complained. “I’m just very good at not wasting movement. My parents died 322 years ago, to your earlier question.”
“Fine, fine. I meant no offence”, Ionis replied. “I do hope by the end of our conversation you will feel that is was not a waste of movement either. I would be happy to repay you for your time, by going and obtaining your supplies for you. Movement is not such a heavy tariff for me.”
I allowed myself a nod. That was generous in the extreme. A monthly supply trip could make a significant dent in your life energy.
“Good. Now, I would like to know how you have spent your 300+ years on this planet. You are the oldest being I have yet met.”
“This planet. This dimension. Can I ask you a question before I answer?”
Ionis nodded. “Yes of course. Although that is interesting in itself. Most are almost chomping at the bit to tell me what they have done with their lives.”
“Well, they chose to sacrifice years of their life moving to do it, so I imagine they would. Where are you from? Is this a joke?”
“That was two questions?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but Ionis smiled. “That’s fine. I should give you some context to the question. I am not from around here, as I imagine you inferred. And I’m not a child. I hope my parents are safe and well, back in my dimension. Time works, let's say, differently where I came from. The child you see before me was the vehicle that was chosen for this visit, to allow us to explore for a time before the avatar ages out and passes away. We are not used to that speed of decay.”
For some reason, all thoughts of it being a joke dropped away. If this was a kid, he was an incredible actor. “What are you?”, I asked.
“I’m a human, just like you. As far as we can tell that is. I’m a researcher for the Pan Dimensional Council. We explore dimensional spaces, across the multiverse, to see how the physics of different universes shape the experience for those in it. Most are similar. This one is a pretty major anomaly I can tell you. It’s got people pretty excited.”
“You don’t age?”, I asked, taking him at face value.
“No, we age. Just that moving doesn’t accelerate it.”
I felt sick. “You don’t get trapped! You don’t wither and die when you move”. My face was hot. I felt cheated. The world had always seemed so small and stupid and boring. I felt dumber than the travellers and the breeders, waiting. It made no sense. And now I understood why.
“Well no. But we also don’t stop ageing when we are still. We age regardless actually.”
My head spun and I started to sag. The child-sized dimension jumper stepped forward and steadied me. “Oh, I’m sorry. I should have given you a warning. I have had this reaction before actually.”
“There is no stopping it? Whatever you do, time speeds by?”
“Yes, although not at your speeds. I guess in some ways I’d been seen as old on your world. I’m only 37 years old. But then I have basically never stopped moving from birth if you ask my parents! Oh, and they have been moving around for 62 and 63 years. From what we understand, you would maybe have a year or two moving like I do before the age claimed you.”
“It sounds….”, I paused and thought for a long moment and in that time my opinion shifted several times before it settled and stuck. “Wonderful”, I finished.
“Fabulous. No-one else has seen it that way so far. Now if you are steady now, I would like to ask you something else?”
I luxuriated in a second nod. “OK. I’m not going to faint again.”
“Would you like to come back to my dimension, Jason? I’d like to bring you back to the office. Perhaps you can help us understand a bit, without feeling like you are pouring the sand out of your timer as we spoke.”
I nodded for a third time.
