Priori of the scion

He had found what he was looking for, he drank from the cool water of the fountain, his hunger went away both in body and soul. It was not like that, a few decades ago.

He would panic at nights thinking what his family was gonna do and whether there would be any light at the end of the dark tunnel. The constant harassment and bickering of the world around him, asking back for paper money they had been borrowed upon from, the state of helplessness of a teenager, deep in angst and in depression in anticipation even before his world came crashing down.

He was not like that before he reached this external and internal crisis, he was someone who was always in the zone, he was always slow, always in connection with the work in front of him, always guarded in his own thoughts and feelings, he was a supreme observer who was aware of the breeze around him, his work, the flowers, the sun, the light and the purpose he was bound to achieve. There was no stopping him from going where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do. That guarded him from the cruelty of the world even when the world tried to bully him into stopping from going towards the winds of change that they were observing, he was going to achieve his goal while they suffered in the abyss till eternity.

But again he was not like this before he was a brash young kid, stealing money, to buy a few comics, taste a few titauras, sweets and a few cinnamon barks. He had to swear that he wouldn't do that again to his mother, who didn't have money to eat anything even when she was at work because he would just steal it to buy comics. He was inconsiderate of his parents' sufferings, he was na?ve in not studying, in cheating his homework, in reading comics in between his books while next day there were exams.

But that was long before, the imaginative child who would go playing games with himself, being the superhero, being the hero of the day, being the protagonist of the world's professions and businesses which demanded heroism. He was on a hero's journey then going to the edges of the space, rescuing himself and his entire distressed imaginary world.

In these waves of him, going through crests and troughs of life, he had reached a phase in the last two decades submitting himself to the human cause of living his life through the storms and sunny days. He stopped living in that process, becoming completely involved in earning for the purpose of earning back the money, riches and reputation, that had been taken away from him and his family. He kept on shape shifting from one work to another, from one profession to another, from one group of people to another; just like his old days as a child, playing protagonist wherever and whenever he liked. His imaginary games had become his life, yet here he was not living at all. He had a purpose and that to reach heights of riches unimagined but even with the goal at hand, he was not it the zone, he was not observant and enjoying what he was doing.

Two decades went past, he felt the biggest earthquake in 100 years in his region, he went through biggest plague in 100 years that happened to the world, he went through his only heartache from the one he loved for three years, he saw the pettiness of the life seeking for spiritual enlightenment, he drank, he smoked, he made merry, he became anxious, he became depressed, he traveled outside his region a few times, he reached pinnacles of professional life; and yet that feeling still remained, he had miles and miles to go further, his place was to dwell at the edge of the universe like in his childhood imaginative days.

Sometimes, it was in his mind, what does this human heart want? This one short life that is given to us, what is the meaning of all this? Is there even a meaning to it like Albert Camus used to say? Is life not absurd when life and death and any incident - they just happen without giving any notice? He knew it that once someone leaves this Earth, there is no chance there would come an evidence that there was anything on the other side - God or heavens or even a life. Just ashes left in the ground and may be a little in the air. It sometimes made him panic just to think like this and he would change the topic to more immortal ones, like where would he go next, what would he do now?

Time passed so quickly for him, he would multitask all his life, for life was about taking care of all priorities at hand. Four decades had passed, with a blink of an eye. Another two or three decades more, then I am done with this life, he thought. What does it even mean? To be done with life, which certainly meant time is over for him to live this one life he had got right now. This was a constant source of thinking for him, day in and day out. Would you even call this living? Beginning with the end in sight.

Somehow either I need to live forever, or time needs to slow down. Since time cannot slow down he thought, because there is just twenty four hours for everyone, his new goal should be about finding ways to live forever, even though already the chronic disease like diabetes courtesy of his family lineage, had already set in. Thus he thought, it is hopeless to think about living forever now, I am already diseased. And since time will not slow down, it's out of question to think about these things, so just count your days on Earth now. You are getting older, you are getting more tired, you are about to die.

Then a chance encounter in life, a friend, a new purpose, something beyond the hubris of all things dead and alive. He realized that may be after all, time can be slowed down and may be forever is possible too, even with chronic diseases. He kept on moving his body, going on hikes, climbing hills, climbing for eight to fourteen hours a day, on any free occasion he found. This was done whenever possible for two years, time didn't slow down of course, but he did feel a little nourished, his diseases and his psychological rumination improved a little. In his last hike done, he realized, that time too after all can be slowed down. It is all in the head, all in your own making, this time thing.

He went through hills from where mountains smiled at him, he looked at the green valleys surrounding him, he got himself moving through dense jungles, water sources of rivers, through fountains and tributary streams, we went and talked with folks whose time had slowed down too in their own towns. This time time slowed down and two days became like two years. Forty eight hours were not counted but lived. His watch didn't matter, his habits of looking into time didn't matter and he became freer as he moved through the wanderlust of the small piece of heaven he had found.

When he tasted the waters of the fountain, exhilaration ran through his belly, the coldest, freshest water straight from the belly of nature and into his. The water of the natural fountain on the pond formed below, as clear as his soul right now, as if there was no hurry there because the only job of the fountain that was to run and only job of his was to be just there drinking it. At that moment, there were no thoughts of life and death, there were no feelings of getting older and dying, no feelings of sadness and disappointment at how life had turned up. Because time had become a bit elongated than twenty four hours, as if eternity had passed before it was time to move away from there. Casting the fresh water into his two water bottles, he drank like crazy in the farther journey, the elixir that had slowed down time for him and brought in him the immortality that he was so dearly looking for.

This life is no multi-tasking rabbit hole, this life is like flowing from the rocks like a fountain, with the only job that is to flow. The only work is the work at hand, and that is to be done as if it will continue till eternity. Only then would it be the most powerful thing that will stop this psychological time at its' tracks. Otherwise, in the world of doing ten things simultaneously, or giving focus to ten thoughts simultaneously, is the poison that gets you older, more scared, more resigned to life than anything else. But the remedy is right there, flow like eternity of flowing fountains and drink from its' waters and you will understand the power of the single task at hand, which slows time like never before and which is the only solution to his four decade old problems, he thought. The dawning of his life had arrived when he thought it was reaching its' dusk.