‘The Experience’
A Short Story by Dominic Albert Risso
Light years away, in the Primrose galaxy, a flourishing kingdom led by a dying king faced a turning point. Even though his only son was the rightful heir, Prince Myriad was anything but right for this sacred position. He was brash, arrogant, and even cruel. He took for granted the gold he owned and the power he adopted. A boy in adult skin, he had little respect for others. He treated his fellow man the same way a chef would handle expired food.
In this world, a technology existed. A special chair only used for dire situations. Since the Prince was the only one that could lawfully inherit the crown, it was almost a requirement that he have, “The Experience”. Myriad was sat in the cold, steel chair. Two neon blue sensors, attached to dull green wires were placed on both of his temples. A half helmet riddled with blinking lights, hovered above his head. The eldest doctor approached the Prince’s side.
“Myriad,” the doctor said bluntly, “This is how it will be. You are not fit to rule this kingdom. You know nothing about life and its counter parts. You are like a flower that feeds off of star light. When you were a child, you were taught of Earth. This distant planet is home to hollow vessels known as humans. They incubate our souls. We are about to transmit your life force in to a suitable host. The life span could be anywhere from 65 to 80 years. Maybe longer. You will feel every second of it. But while you are living this experience, you will have no memory of your current life. In fact, you will think of yourself as a human and nothing more. From our perspective, no more than a minute will pass. It begins with the light and ends with the light. Myriad…Are you ready?”
The Prince nods and lets his body relax. The scientists exit the room, observing through the glass partition. A switch is pressed and a flood of science is catapulted in to Myriad’s body. His sternum jolts in to the air, while his eyes roll back in to his skull. The next thing he sees is a blinding white light. He finds himself in the small, fragile body of a newborn human baby. He is pulled from the womb of a beautiful woman. This baby belongs to a middle class family. Not poor, but not rich. He lives in America. He is the youngest of three children. He lives a modest life. His parents raise him to be a caring, respectful boy. He receives an adequate education. He knows that the key to a good, noble existence is to treat others the way that he wishes to be treated. He experiences love. Several times in fact. But with the good, comes the bad. This Earthling experiences the agonizing discomfort of losing his Mother to a dreadful evil known as cancer. He also gets in to meaningless squabbles with strangers. He watches films and listens to songs. They change his way of thinking. They alter his view of the world in front of him. He makes mistakes. He sees breathtaking sunsets, mountains, seas, and ancient ruins. He even marries a fellow human and pro-creates. He lives a full, genuine life. Sure he has regrets, but they are quite minute compared to the overall whirlwind of positive emotion. When his host body spends 88 years in full swing, he finds that his soul needs to find somewhere else to dwell. He passes peacefully in his bed. When he closes his eyes, instead of seeing the black behind his eyelids, he is again visited by this dimension-less white light. Myriad’s eyes return to normal. The helmet retracts and the doctors re-enter the room to remove the sensors from his head.
“Myriad. Did it work?” asked the doctor. The Prince smiled in a way that no one had seen before. This smile was immediately followed by a stream of tears. Both happy and sad ones. He is informed that 33 seconds have passed. At first, this concept is very difficult for Myriad’s mind to grasp. “I was there for 88 years. I had two daughters, a gorgeous wife, an affectionate Mother, a supportive Father, and two wonderful, caring brothers. It was an experience unlike any other. It was beautiful, disturbing, whimsical, and horrifying.” The doctor nodded with a straight face and said, “It was necessary.”
