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The Oldest Man
A whisper of soul

A whisper of soul

Arlo lay on his bed staring at the bespeckled ceiling thinking back on his life, all the joy and happiness overshadowing the dark and unpleasant portions that are oft seen when looking back upon his past. As he stared at the ceiling it seemed to move and shudder, as it was prone to do now that his eyesight wasn't as good as it used to be.

Arlo often had moments of introspectiveness nowadays, giving that he had time to think such thoughts but it still made him angry that he didnt have something to do, make or read. His sons Jeb and Burr  had set forth an entire 10 year tab to the hotel so that he could live comfortably but the staff at the hotel weren't prone to doing what he said, since he was just a frail old man and no longer the great soldier he used to be.

He sighed and started to move his body, slowly sliding off his bed while his bones ached intensely. He shouted out in a gruff but still kind voice to his aid "Hey harry, what's for brecky." 

From outside the hotel room there was a shuffling noise and then the door opened a crack before a messy blond haired young man popped his head.

'Hey old man, what did staff say about staying in bed?' He joked to arlo and arlo joked back "you call this is a bed, I got better sleep when I was in the stables during the west March campaign" 

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A happy back of forth occured for a couple minutes before Arlo silenced himself and with a grim expression asked harry the thought that had been going through his head for the last couple days. 'Harry, I can feel my mind slipping and my memories becoming gradually more faded, would I be wrong to kill myself early to stop while I'm ahead? I mean look at me, you've known me since you were barely out of puberty and now you're almost middle aged- have you noticed my decline?' 

There was a long pause, a poignant silence as they sat in what would likely be arlo's room of departure before harry sighed and gestured with his arms at the world around them "old man, I love you as a second father to me and you tell the best stories but I've been watching you grow fainter and fainter over the years, like a used shirt in the wash." There was a brief moment of gasped air as harry paused his speech "but if I was you in would not have made it through half the events you did in your life, I would not have lived this long and I would definitely not have the mental achnoledgement to notice myself fading. If I was in your situation, your shoes, I likely would just accept my end times and go off to the next great adventure" there was a slight sob in harry voice and he stepped forward to hug Old Man arlo.

As they hugged arlo gathered the fortitude to go silently in the night, as to him it felt as if he accomplished all he meant to do in his life up to this point.

All was good and later that night, as Old Arlo's chest started to fall, ever so gently, a small whisper of his soul tried to set forth in its next journey upwards.

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