On a tree trunk, in a clearing behind a village that has been in the same place for as long as anyone can remember an old man wearing a ragged cloak sat deep in thought. This changed when a young girl with long hazel hair came to him and shouted a question. "How old are you?"

This started the old man a little but in good humour, the old man answered calmly ." as old as time and young as the moment."

This made the girl's ocean-blue eyes widen in shock, but after pondering the answer, the girl yelled "That is not a real answer! Give me a real answer!"

'Is it not?' asked the old man and mumbled to himself 'How peculiar.' The old man turned to look at the girl with his eyes shining in wonder. "How about this?" he asked "You give me an example so that I may follow and answer the question correctly and to your liking."

'Hynph' came a sound from the girl after a second the girl voiced her answer to the question. "That is so easy. I am seven!"

Hearing this answer the man took an extremely sincere stance and told the girl. "I am sorry to hear that, but I do not see how your mother's naming sense answered anything about age?"

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This got the girl fuming and she yelled. "WHAT? Seven is not my name I am seven years old"

"Are you now? How come? Explain to me how you come to this number."

"Well." the girl answered more sullenly. "I have lived for seven years."

"Have you now?" prodded the old man.

"Yes. My birthday was on the last Monday." answered the girl more sharply.

"How long a go was that?" asked the man. "Four days." answered the girl

"So you lied to me." asked the man

No." answered the girl "How could I have lied?"

"You just told me you were seven years old, but in reality, you are seven years and four days old." Answered the man "You were simplifying your answer and so making it untrue:"

"But you lied by saying whatever you said. When I asked you your age." said the girl to the old man

"No. That was not a lie. It was simply put the broadest way to answer the question that you asked me without lying, as I do not know when I was born, nor have I recollection of how old I may be in terms of lived years as a human. I do know though, that at the moment of your question, every part that builds the image that I am has es existed since the start of time and everything that you saw before your eyes had existed in that moment as me.

This put the girl in a quiet mood for a moment, but after a while, the girl asked another question "So on an estimate how many years have you lived."

"Ah. A better question!" exclaimed the old man and a while after. "Answered so on an estimate. I would be 7042 years and 263 days, but enough of the questions run away now."

And run she did, for as long as she could, for if you meet an immortal do you as they say, or be scared for life by the consequences.