Post by Radrook Admin on Nov 11, 2022 16:27:53 GMT -5
The Impossible Man
By
Radrook
By
Radrook
"Answer me when I talk to you, you stinking moron!” the young, muscular young man shouted at the skinny old man he had just punched in the face, and who was lying on the floor face-down near some large metal garbage bins in a dark alleyway bleeding from the nose and semi-conscious late that evening,
The man that the hooligan had just savagely assailed, was none other than Jonathan Remington, who at age eighty-seven, weighed a mere one-hundred-pounds, at a height of 5 feet, two inches.
This was not the first time in which Jonathan had managed to make those near him ill-at ease, and strongly inclined to attack him. In fact, it was the fifth time that he had been physically assailed in that way. No, it wasn’t because of anything that Jonathan intentionally said in order to offend people. It was simply because Jonathan Remington never spoke, but was always silently smiling.
While homeless? He smiled. While being insulted? He smiled. Even while getting savagely mugged, he smiled. Life was obviously treating him in a bad way. So why the smile? It seemed unnatural. As if his very presence was an insult to others who rightfully felt justified in complaining about their unfortunate lives.
Was he aware of some profound truth that had escaped their notice? Had he attained some type of Nirvana? If so, then how? Why didn't he want to share his secret concerning ,happiness? To make matters worse, Jonathan would not respond when questioned, but he would just broadly smile and stare at the questioner as if with a profound pity.
True, his reaction had been patiently tolerated by mental-health professionals, but the violently-inclined, street-wise rabble had often responded with physical violence. Several times he had been savagely pummeled into unconsciousness and left for dead. Yet, even then he would just smile when hospitalized and utter only one word. “Soon!”
It was during these convalescing times that the attending physicians noticed stranger things about Jonathan Remington besides his total silence and unshakable equanimity. non-human things, inexplicable things that left them totally baffled. For example, he never consumed any food, and should have been on the verge of starvation but wasn't. He also never drank liquids, and should have been dehydrated and on the verge of death, and yet seemed perfectly fine. In fact, he was much healthier than those of his same age and several decades younger.
It had been the nurses who had reported it after they noticed that his food always remained untouched. At first they had thought it maybe a temporary anomaly. After all, people do vary in how often they eat. Some eat less and some eat more. It all fell within the parameters of normal variation within the human species. But soon, they noticed that this was something entirely different, and decided to inform the attending physician who then, after noticing no ill effects, reported it to his supervisor until Jonathan Remington became the center of intensive medical and scientific attention.
Since no simple explanations could be found, he was finally placed under intense scientific observation and it was discovered that not only did Remington never eat nor drink, but he also never slept, never urinated nor defecated. His aged body seemed to have absolutely no need for these essential things and yet functioned as if it were benefiting from all the essential physical processes that a normal human body did.
Under the microscope, his cells, were normal and his blood type was O . Nothing unusual there either. With his straight grey, slightly blondish hair, and his typical North European features, and pale white skin, he seemed belong to the Caucasian race. Neither did the nonverbal psychological problem-solving tests indicate any degree of mental deficiencies or insanity. His DNA proved to be totally human with the usual Neanderthal percentage typical of Europeans. So no, he definitely wasn’t some extraterrestrial, as some had half-jokingly suggested.
Finally, after a year of frantic effort to solve the exceedingly strange enigma, they threw up their hands and admitted that they were just as baffled as they had been before running all the tests. These tests had included efforts to bring him out of his self imposed isolation via asking of simple questions in an effort to have him at least mumble some word. All had been in vain, since his gaunt face remained almost expressionless except for that very slight, almost imperceptible perpetual sardonic smile that seemed as if it had been permanently etched on his emaciated countenance.
If pressured too persistently, he would calmly turn away from the psychiatrist and gaze into some seemingly imaginary distance, as if he were beholding things of great interest since his blue eyes would brighten as if in anticipation of some monumental event that only he were aware of. In fact, the only word he had ever been heard to say during such moments was the same word he always muttered, the word “Soon!”
Eventually, since they couldn't legally detain him indefinitely, they were forced to give him a good bill of health and let him go. During the intervening years, word did leak out concerning his unusual abilities and he appeared briefly on the front page of some tabloids where he was sensationally described as The Indestructible Man. But apart from those brief periods of notoriety, he remained almost totally isolated from society.
In time, scientists gave up trying to understand the phenomenon that he represented and decided it was best to just totally ignore him. Maybe then he would stop seeking attention with his perpetual silence and general enigmatic behavior and speak. After all, psychiatrists had classified him as suffering from histrionic personality disorder, an attention-seeking disorder characterized by weird behavior employed to seek attention. So maybe depriving him of it would finally lure him into explaining why they couldn’t trace him to any place of birth. Or he would deign to explain how he had managed to go through life without the necessary documents, such as birth certificate, or social security number, or a legal immigration green card to determine exactly where he was from.
As for the old man, Jonathan Remington, it had absolutely no effect on his demeanor. Seemingly oblivious to all that surrounded him, he just continued to grow silently older, until one day, at the ripe old age of 120, while sitting in a meditating position atop a hillside bordering the city of Los Angeles, and staring intently up at the noonday sun, he muttered the word: “Now!" and suddenly, he just faded away.
The man that the hooligan had just savagely assailed, was none other than Jonathan Remington, who at age eighty-seven, weighed a mere one-hundred-pounds, at a height of 5 feet, two inches.
This was not the first time in which Jonathan had managed to make those near him ill-at ease, and strongly inclined to attack him. In fact, it was the fifth time that he had been physically assailed in that way. No, it wasn’t because of anything that Jonathan intentionally said in order to offend people. It was simply because Jonathan Remington never spoke, but was always silently smiling.
While homeless? He smiled. While being insulted? He smiled. Even while getting savagely mugged, he smiled. Life was obviously treating him in a bad way. So why the smile? It seemed unnatural. As if his very presence was an insult to others who rightfully felt justified in complaining about their unfortunate lives.
Was he aware of some profound truth that had escaped their notice? Had he attained some type of Nirvana? If so, then how? Why didn't he want to share his secret concerning ,happiness? To make matters worse, Jonathan would not respond when questioned, but he would just broadly smile and stare at the questioner as if with a profound pity.
True, his reaction had been patiently tolerated by mental-health professionals, but the violently-inclined, street-wise rabble had often responded with physical violence. Several times he had been savagely pummeled into unconsciousness and left for dead. Yet, even then he would just smile when hospitalized and utter only one word. “Soon!”
It was during these convalescing times that the attending physicians noticed stranger things about Jonathan Remington besides his total silence and unshakable equanimity. non-human things, inexplicable things that left them totally baffled. For example, he never consumed any food, and should have been on the verge of starvation but wasn't. He also never drank liquids, and should have been dehydrated and on the verge of death, and yet seemed perfectly fine. In fact, he was much healthier than those of his same age and several decades younger.
It had been the nurses who had reported it after they noticed that his food always remained untouched. At first they had thought it maybe a temporary anomaly. After all, people do vary in how often they eat. Some eat less and some eat more. It all fell within the parameters of normal variation within the human species. But soon, they noticed that this was something entirely different, and decided to inform the attending physician who then, after noticing no ill effects, reported it to his supervisor until Jonathan Remington became the center of intensive medical and scientific attention.
Since no simple explanations could be found, he was finally placed under intense scientific observation and it was discovered that not only did Remington never eat nor drink, but he also never slept, never urinated nor defecated. His aged body seemed to have absolutely no need for these essential things and yet functioned as if it were benefiting from all the essential physical processes that a normal human body did.
Under the microscope, his cells, were normal and his blood type was O . Nothing unusual there either. With his straight grey, slightly blondish hair, and his typical North European features, and pale white skin, he seemed belong to the Caucasian race. Neither did the nonverbal psychological problem-solving tests indicate any degree of mental deficiencies or insanity. His DNA proved to be totally human with the usual Neanderthal percentage typical of Europeans. So no, he definitely wasn’t some extraterrestrial, as some had half-jokingly suggested.
Finally, after a year of frantic effort to solve the exceedingly strange enigma, they threw up their hands and admitted that they were just as baffled as they had been before running all the tests. These tests had included efforts to bring him out of his self imposed isolation via asking of simple questions in an effort to have him at least mumble some word. All had been in vain, since his gaunt face remained almost expressionless except for that very slight, almost imperceptible perpetual sardonic smile that seemed as if it had been permanently etched on his emaciated countenance.
If pressured too persistently, he would calmly turn away from the psychiatrist and gaze into some seemingly imaginary distance, as if he were beholding things of great interest since his blue eyes would brighten as if in anticipation of some monumental event that only he were aware of. In fact, the only word he had ever been heard to say during such moments was the same word he always muttered, the word “Soon!”
Eventually, since they couldn't legally detain him indefinitely, they were forced to give him a good bill of health and let him go. During the intervening years, word did leak out concerning his unusual abilities and he appeared briefly on the front page of some tabloids where he was sensationally described as The Indestructible Man. But apart from those brief periods of notoriety, he remained almost totally isolated from society.
In time, scientists gave up trying to understand the phenomenon that he represented and decided it was best to just totally ignore him. Maybe then he would stop seeking attention with his perpetual silence and general enigmatic behavior and speak. After all, psychiatrists had classified him as suffering from histrionic personality disorder, an attention-seeking disorder characterized by weird behavior employed to seek attention. So maybe depriving him of it would finally lure him into explaining why they couldn’t trace him to any place of birth. Or he would deign to explain how he had managed to go through life without the necessary documents, such as birth certificate, or social security number, or a legal immigration green card to determine exactly where he was from.
As for the old man, Jonathan Remington, it had absolutely no effect on his demeanor. Seemingly oblivious to all that surrounded him, he just continued to grow silently older, until one day, at the ripe old age of 120, while sitting in a meditating position atop a hillside bordering the city of Los Angeles, and staring intently up at the noonday sun, he muttered the word: “Now!" and suddenly, he just faded away.