Attaining Immortality

Chapter 1

I never believed I was going to die.

Death was something I watched on the television or read about in the newspaper, but I never gave it much thought.

I never thought there was an afterlife cause I had never seen it. I was someone who only believed in what I saw and I never saw death. Until now...

It was a bright sunny day. I got into my normal routine of taking a shower, dressing up for work, eating a piece of toast and entering into my car. The road was smooth as always. Hardly any traffic or reckless drivers.

I thought I was safe.

I arrived at my workplace. A shoe factory in the heart of town that I owned. Good mornings were passed by my workers as we started the day.

I monitored them to make sure they were doing their job right. I hated losing money for others incompetence.

I was particularly watching the new boy who was on cutting duty. He was nervously sweating as he noticed I was watching him. My other employees were used to it as they knew I loved to monitor their work.

Suddenly the machine stopped. I was not alarmed because it does that sometimes. The boy, however, did not know that and began to sweat even more. In a few seconds, I was sure he was going to start crying. I pushed the incompetent worker aside and decided to fix it myself.

I put my hand in to remove the clogged up leather that accumulated on the machine parts when the machine started working again. I would have been happy that I did not have to spend much work on getting it to start again.

But that was if my hand wasn't stuck in the machine. It began to draw my hand closer to the dicer as I stared in horror.

My workers were also shocked that they couldn't move to help me.

The dicer began with my fingers, specifically my middle finger. The pain was nothing like I had experienced.

I watched my finger get cut. The blood spilled everywhere. My index was next.

The painful process on replay, then my ring finger, then my pinky and lastly my favorite finger, my thumb. All sliced away.

I couldn't even remember if I was screaming. The whole process felt painfully slow even though it all happened in five seconds.

It only took five seconds for my right hand to disappear from my body.

Only five seconds for me to become handicapped.

Only five seconds for my life to be ruined.

✴✴✴

"You should be grateful that you didn't die, sir," the nurse said as she bandaged up my hand. "Most people are not as lucky as you. At least, you still have a working hand."

I looked at her with so much anger, she picked up her tray and left.

I hated this. How could I be grateful? Not only did I lose a hand but I lost my right hand. My dominant hand. I couldn't eat without assistance. I definitely couldn't work and I couldn't even write down how I felt. If I was ungrateful with life before, then this takes the cake.

Death was real. It has been eight months after the accident and I was still in the hospital. I suffered from PTSD and vivid nightmares and I could still remember how my hand was reduced to mulch.
I was a guy who loved sleep, but now that was ruined.

I attempted to kill myself several times but I couldn't even do that right.

Because I was a coward who was afraid of death.

The door opened again but this time it was the doctor. "How are you doing Mr. Smith?"

I gave him the stink eye "Not fine obviously, I don't have two hands!"

The doctor ignored me and checked my vitals. "You seem to be fine Mr. Smith. I believe that you are ready to go home."

✴✴✴

Stupid people! I wonder why the government did not shut down that incompetent hospital. I had no one to go back home to, I had no one to take good care of me, yet they threw me out. Couldn't they see I was not ready?

They didn't even give me a wheelchair because apparently, handless people don't need wheelchairs.

I look down at my hand that was bandaged up. It was all gone, only my wrist to my shoulders remained.

The nurse followed me out to get me a taxi but I shooed her off. I don't need their pity.

I stood angrily in front of the hospital waiting for a taxi.

"Excuse me, sir?"

I turned to the voice that called me. "Yes, what do you want?"

I did not like the way the man looked. He was wearing a worn-out cheap suit that did not even look like it was made for him. He looked dirty and poor. I was sure he was a criminal looking for money.

People have no shame. They even want to rob the handicapped!

"I can drive you to your house," he said showing his dirty and incomplete set of teeth as he smiled.

"No thank you," I said simply and started to walk away from him as I heard footsteps behind me.

"I insist sir." I turned my back and saw him smiling as he leaned in closer to me.

"Let me tell you a secret. Any car you enter that is not mine will have an accident and you would die."

What rubbish was he speaking? "Are you out of your mind! The only person that would die is you if you don't let me be-"

Before I could continue the man pressed a rag to my nose and it did not take long for me to inhale the chloroform and be engulfed in darkness.

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Authors note:
Hello, people, this book is going to be an interesting journey I assure you. If you enjoyed it don't forget to vote and comment!