Cheating - a 164-word story/brief

[Kyriakos]

Written for some contest (original -in greek- had 121 words; wrote it to take my mind of translating work, it isn't some intricate piece but you can read if you feel like it)


Cheating






When I was an elementary schooler I considered the next ten years – as many as my full age at the time – as going to last for so long that it was almost as if I was cheating; to be one to live for so extended a time. Even the memories I already had were many, and also intricate, so it seemed impressive how many more I was to have in times to come, and that I was to think of so much, and of things greatly more intricate; in analogy to how more intricate those I had at ten were to the ones of previous times. In that age no one is aware of the fact that ten years of childhood are, usually, richer in regards to changes witnessed, than thirty years of adult life. A child’s heart beats in a rhythm that urges the learning of new things. Of those new things which, in time, shall form into his later, and unvarying, living.

[NorseThing]

I do like the piece. It makes me think. Interesting as a preteen you had thought it cheating to live into adulthood. From my perspective as a middle class American growing up in the Middle America -- that is scary and so much unlike my thoughts as a youth..

[Kyriakos]

^^
Well, it's not like mortality rate or age is different here from the US. I just noted that a child regards 10 years as a vast time, and likely a reason why the child thinks so is the lack of awareness of the fact that an adult stabilized considerably and thus isn't having so huge a build-up of new things and development of them as the child does

[HunterKYA]

First off, apologies not having read any of your other works sooner.

This is quite a fascinating take on how children view the passing of time, as opposed to adults. At such a young age, we're amazed at thinking of all the events and encounters that have yet to take place, not having learned from experience and taking it with a grain of skepticism as adults. Children have a curiosity and wonder that's challenging to describe, traits that are dulled and soured as we grow older, when the world has done its best to beat you down. It's those who hold onto that curiosity and wonder, those who continue to dream of the unseen and unexplored, who are the visionaries who change the world for the better.

[Kyriakos]

Thanks ^^ Glad you liked it

[Alwyn]

A thought-provoking brief story, writing a narrative with so few words is challenging. I agree with HunterKYA and NorseThing, your story successfully evokes the curiosity and wonder of childhood.