Brainstorm #1

I got the idea from my uncle, who at the age of 25 is on life support and (at one point) only had hours to live. Fortunately, very fortunately, he recovered. So this one's for him.

Today’s the day when dreaming ends.

I was born 25 years, 34 weeks and 5 days ago and I was ambitious. At primary school I once molded blue tack into a life-sized koala. By the time I was 11, I had read Darwin’s ‘Origin of Species’ and Adam Smith’s ‘Wealthy of Nations.’ In my spare time I would bond with the pigeons in the garden and tend to my ant farm.

I was not out of the ordinary.

I graduated from Oxford a year earlier than I should have done with a bachelor’s degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. I took a year off and travelled the world; living in the basement of a major drug dealer in Paris drinking cheap wine and eating stale croissants for days on end. I visited Southern India and the slums. I went inside the pyramids and scared our tour guide by pretending to communicate with Tutan Ka Moon. I learnt three new languages within that year but never spoke any of them from my departure onwards.

I suppose you could say I was gifted.

But I rarely saw the light.

I moved back to England and grew tomatoes on my own land. I joined Amnesty International and was almost arrested for trying to scale Big Ben when protesting against child-slave-labour in Shenzhen, China. EXPLOITATION EXISTS THERE AND YOU KNOW IT. They sell the kids like cabbages. You may have seen me on BBC news? They pretended I was crazy for weeks. They claimed I once outran a cheetah. They said I invented the bathtub and intended on becoming Prime Minister for 10 countries.

I have lived for 25 years, 34 weeks and 5 days. I have an Oxford degree and have visited 27 countries. I am fluent in 4 languages and the company I worked for (until recently) is on the Forbes Top 100 list.

It’s a shame none of that taught me how to spend the last 5 hours of my life.

I’m a creature of the underworld.

Author's Note

Note: this is just a first draft but all criticism is very welcome!

Reviews

[AlexAustin]

It's fast and stylish but it does sound a little like that commercial for Dos Equis ... "The world's most interesting man ...."

[Coyote Poetry]

The beginning of your story is very good. The character is very strong and have purpose. I like the set-up of the story. I look forward to reading more.
Coyote