An Eternity Of Silence

• Jarvis Trenorden, Grade 7, Brisbane State High School
• Short Story
• 2015

Excellence Award in the 'Read Write Repeat 2015' competition

Forever I would sit below the rough and rocky roof, in the sad and smokey pits of the underworld. An eternity of silence. My old hands ran through the rough dirt floor; nothing could compare to the bitter taste of regret. I never wanted it to be this way. The memories of my family, with loving smiles and joyful laughter were slowly fading. All the happy times I shared with them, dissolving into darkness. Why wasn't I content with that life? Why couldn't I accept the wrinkles on my face? Why wasn't it enough for me? I feared age itself and tried to escape death. In my earlier life, I would wake up each morning within the bare and dusty walls of my bedroom, with the intention that someday my life would be everlasting. I believed that I was worthy of this God-like luxury, but the Gods were disgusted by my unworthy conjectures. They were offended by my bold arrogance. The deep and threatening voices granted my wish of everlasting life by their own terms, forcing me to forever regret my desire for immortality in this desolate and fiery underworld.

The furious Gods wrapped their gigantic invisible hands around my frail body and sent me to this sullen, smokey hell. The musty scent of the comfortless underworld filled my head. This is where I will feel the wrath and agelessly suffer for the disloyalty of my mortal assets. I could have appreciated life as it was, I should have realised the love my family had towards me. I would still be with my two children, enjoying the simplicities of life, waking up each morning, acknowledging my mortality and enjoying life as it was.

Instead, I sit in the underworld, cast here by the angered gods, eternally lonely. Regretting my longing of deathlessness.