Long Time Coming

“I'm dying, you know.”

“Ha! Right. You're going to outlive us all.”

“Maybe. Nonetheless, I'm dying.”

“Well in that sense, aren't we all, then? We all have our time. No way yours is going to be any time soon.”

“You're missing my point, Davis. Listen to me. I. Am. Dying.”

“I guess I am missing it. I thought you were having a laugh. Care to alleviate my ignorance?”

“Yesterday, I wasn't dying. Today, I am.”

“Wait. Yesterday you... what do you mean?”

“Ever since I've existed, I have known that I would last forever. You think I'm just some long-lived old man. The town elder with his stories and eccentricities.”

“When you put it like that... I guess.”

“I have been here longer than your fathers, your grandfathers, your great-grandfathers, and so forth to the beginnings of the human ages. Not once in all that time did I fear death. I have always known I would continue to live.”

“Are... are you alright, mate? You're not making a lot of sense...”

“No, I'm not alright. I told you: I'm dying.”

“This... look, just calm down, Angus. You're getting agitated, and the other customers are starting to notice. Just calm down and tell me why you feel like you're dying.”

“I just know. I couldn't tell you how. It's a heaviness in my heart, a catch in my breath, a glint of fear in the back of my mind.”

“So what changed?”

“I don't know. But I need your help to find out.”