Shards
MY FATHER the adjunct physics professor and experimental scientist was dying and I had one final request. I had been thinking it over for a while. My husband sat beside me, our sleeping son in his arms. My daughter ran through the corridors of the hospital looking for sweets to steal and I did not have the heart to stop her.
“What more do you want from me, greedy girl?” Papa said.
“I want to be immortal,” I told him.
Papa managed to laugh. “One lifetime is more than anyone should suffer.”
“I want to live forever. To travel through deserts and jungles and uncharted lands. To see the world in all its tragedy and glory,” I said. This did not take, so I added, “Pretty please?”
Papa sighed existentially. “I have never done anything like that before.”
My husband shook his head. “Forever?” He wiped drool from our son’s mouth.
Papa closed his eyes. I could
