(First time on this subreddit, not a big writer, but this prompt feels amazing. I'm not a great writer, this may not seem even good, but certain concepts do intrigue me greatly. The ones in this being time/concept of infinity, the pain of immortality, and astronomy. This was also more so a free write.)
The neverending, continuous march of time, each year feels like a second. I was born young into our Universe, I no longer remember what it was like. Back then the Universe was still bright, I am sure I was full of life, one memory remains.
I don't remember what age I was, but we were out watching a gorgeous total solar eclipse, what I thought to be a once in a lifetime event. She happened to be there as I arrived, I didn't mind and laid down and donned my glasses. As the moon began to pass, I felt the need to talk, the awe bringing forth inspiration to share this moment with anyone, and she happened to be there. Laying down on the green hill, the cool breeze of fall being the only sound. Despite it slowly becoming darker, it all felt brighter, or rather, almost saturated. It felt mystical here, maybe it was her.
"I've always heard of these, they seemed so simple, but whenever I talked to someone about it they showed such intrigue into it, they said it to be one of the most gorgeous things they've seen." With a light chuckle I continue, "I have always wanted to see one, but it was always a bit of a passive thing. But now, with it beginning, I have not felt so excited for years."
She chuckled in response, likely due to the excitement taking over. Taking off her eclipse glasses she sits up and looks over. Her ginger hair, once plain, now with the intensity of the sun. Her eyes, unique and diachromatic, split into a beautiful hue of green and blue. She was young, her voice was filled with excitement and life, "They really are amazing, I have seen them many times in my life, but each one is so inspiring that they all feel like the best moments of my life each time. I have practically lost count of how many I've seen, after my first one I can't help but chase these down. The wait is worthwhile, all for that moment when the moon sits perfectly and the sky goes dark. The stars appear and you can see the very atmosphere of a star."
She continues, "I have seen many things, but we happen to be alive on a planet and at the right time so we can see this. Give a few million years difference and the moon would be too big or too large. But we are in the perfect environment, the Universe may be large, but this experience is a rare one. That is the beauty of it all."
Taken aback from what she said, I reply, "I have always loved astronomy, but it is all so distant, timescales of millions of years for small events, any time I can see something with the naked eye, I can't help but think of how great it is to experience the interaction of objects that are impossible to truly understand their magnitude."
We continue talking back and forth, sharing our love for the world, both above and below. Not too long and it is as though a sudden shift has begun, our shadows distorted, the air cold. I look up and see the magic she described. As the moon passes above, the sky grows darker, my heart slows, a smile grows as I see the stars appear. The white glow of the sun's atmosphere being the dominant force in the sky. I stare for what felt like ages before the sight recedes. I take a deep breath, "You were right about that." I turn to look at her and she was gone.
I do not remember anything else from that day, that year. And almost like a prank from god himself, I slowly began to realize I didn't age. Didn't die. I don't remember who they were anymore, but the lonliness of being alone as my friends and family died is a feeling that never dissappears. Tested and experimented on, thrown out upon learning nothing. I want to say that was bad, a horrifying experience, but I am numb to it, I can't remember it. I just know that it occured.
I forgot that memory of that woman a long time ago, I was able to witness the events I had wanted to in the past. Collission of our galaxy, the death of stars and the beautiful supernovas, however those memories did not last. Billions of years pass, it all passes by smoothly, I am aware of the time passing but have become numb to it.
On another world, I worked simply because I felt it was an obligation. I was dead inside at this point, not depressed, but a shell. A body and nothing more. An alien to their world, but there it happened to be the norm, as I continue with my day I see the woman once more. It was as though the memory of the eclipse lay dormant, when I saw her it returned. She recognized me as well, she walked up. A feeling that I forgot existed returned, was it anxiety? Longing? Placement? I am still not sure.
"You're alive?" She asked, "How? Do you even remember me.
I replied, "Yes... I do." I can only imagine the confusion that was plastered to my face, "I have been for so long, everyone else has died. How are you still here?" Through my years I've learned to not hold back what I need to say, although my body is still that of a 30 year old, I know what is best. Another emotion returns very quickly as I begin shaking, I fall to my knees crying. Someone who is still around from my past... Something I've forgotten.
She smiles somberly and crouches down, hugging me and patting my back. "I want to say I know how you feel. I was born with the freedom to go anywhere and anytime. I don't age as I don't experience time in the same way. Reality itself is a something I drift through seemlessly, I can't imagine how you experience time. I don't know your pain, it is another thing I travel just as you walk. It is physically impossible for me to do so. Im sorry, I have seen people go insane from a few hundred years."
I look up, my eyes blurry and she is already gone. I struggle home, everything overwhelming me. I find a letter when I return, it states that she is unable to help and cannot bring herself to stay. She does not wish to bring more pain.
The two memories that have stayed with me ever further throughout time were these. I began to drift slowly though existance. I would fall asleep and millons of years would past as I refuse to experience it. But my mind decayed all the same, impossible to control. Despair came, it is all that I could imagine. I can only imagine the seemingly infinite. Should I die, I return back together. I never age. Nothing has kept me dead, the torture that was black holes were relatively harmless. Just more pain.
After an untold number of years the Universe has decayed greatly. The smallest stars are the ones that remain. Everything seemed dark outside of the immediate area, the Universe itself expanding at such a rate. Those that were alive all knew of me, be it storys or meeting them. I never was anything special, but I acheived what none of them ever could. But they no longer want it anyways.
One day, laying down, watching the ancient star slowly die, footsteps came behind me. She was back, I felt paralyzed unsure of what to do. I no longer even talk, I wanted to speak but have forgotten how to. I can only listen.
"I'm sorry, I am not omnipotent, but it never should have been this long for you. You never should have been through this suffering. I am here to save you." She smiles, "I explained, but perhaps you forgot, I can move through time as simple as walking. I can do the same with others, but I try to avoid doing so. At this rate of the Universe, you would have to experience the amount of time you have been around multiplied by an indescribably large number. If you remember the years of Earth, if you took the age of the Universe and multiplied it by itself, you would be about 5% of the way to the 'death' of the Univese." I was unsure how to feel, so many people promised an escape in the past, but it all failed. But this was her. She was above the laws of the universe, just like myself.
"There is a point in time, the Universe will expand at such a rate that you will stay dead. I have went through time to do the calculations needed to know what can end your pain. I know that the end is truly what you want. What you need." She gives a light smile, and for the last time my emotions return, tears well up as I reach in to hug her. She hugs back, "You will be just fine." She says as the world goes black for the smallest fraction of a second.
Just as infinite time passed before I was born, just as it felt a snap of a finger, so does infinite time passing forward. My mind breaks as the particles that are me break- the last memory being the bliss of knowing it is all over and I am free.