A Story of Their Lives

Chapter 2

Michael and I were sitting on the cliffs, overlooking the bay of the ocean. It was warm and windy.

"Are you really doing it?" Michael asked. He looked very sad. "Even though we broke up, I was kind of hoping to still stay in touch."

"Well, we will stay in touch. Just a few years later."

"I hope I'm not the reason why...?"

"Of course not," I laughed. In fact, I still could not fully explain why I was doing it. I was probably too afraid to admit that the only reason for making this choice was that I too, like Isaline, really didn't want to turn thirty.

"I might also do it, I think."

We sat in silence for some time and looked at the water below us. Waves were crashing into the rocky beach. When we meet next time – if we meet again – what stages of our lives will we be at? How old will we be? Will he still be twenty-seven while I am in my forties? Will I be twenty-eight and he in his fifties?

"What will this mean for us? We might wake up at completely different times. We might continue living for a decade while the other person is still sleeping," Michael asked, forming my jumbled thoughts into concrete questions.

"Well... How about that: let's meet in 2053 no matter what. At Nabeer bar, if it still exists. 8:30 PM."

"Deal," he laughed. We'd spent many hours at that bar when we were students.

I gave the ocean one last look, and he walked me home. My freeze appointment was scheduled for the next day, but I didn't tell Michael.

"See you in 2053," I said. He laughed, waved goodbye to me, and left, most likely still not believing that the next time we saw each other would indeed be so far in the future.

My sister Alice returned from working abroad a few months earlier, moved into the house for the time being, and took over all the tasks our parents gave me. I paused all my social media accounts, cloud storage, and my work contract. I said goodbye to everyone not yet sleeping. I was mentally prepared for whatever situation I would wake up in. Clara was already frozen, and she would stay in storage nearby which provided some consolation even though it wouldn't really change anything for me.

The day came sooner than I expected. I slid into the suit, while they hid away all my possessions in the personal safe. The terms and conditions agreement was thirty pages long and I made sure to read all of it several times. There was a 0.03% chance of something going wrong in the pods that could irreversibly damage my brain functions. Postponing turning thirty was worth it, apparently.

Alice and Isaline watched me awkwardly walk toward my pod, moving in a penguin-like manner.

"This suit thing is not comfortable at all," I complained with nervous laughter.

"It's good that you will be unconscious most of the time while you wear it then," the nurse replied with a smile.

Alice and Isaline waved me goodbye and tookpictures, excited for me to experience the freeze. Then the door shut down infront of me and I fell into darkness.