I sat at the restaurant car sipping my cold coffee. I tried to sort out my thoughts, as if I was sorting socks in pairs from a huge pile of laundry. I’ve never been good at either one or the other. So I looked through the window at the changing landscape. It was after sunset, in a moment everything was going to shroud in darkness.
I stood in a place. I wanted to do so much and at the same time I was paralyzed by the thought that everything was so painfully temporary, so fleeting and consequently – of little importance. Have I achieved anything significant, anything valuable in my life? Existential fear seized me and the longer and harder I dug deep into the issues of my existence, the more everything was spinning in my head. I started to see blackness, I had to take a deep breath and close my eyes. After all, it all was going to fade away, I comforted myself.
I opened my eyes. Right in front of me stood a guinea pig of human size. It looked at me in an unobstrusive way, as if with care.
-I know a solution to all your problems – started guinea pig and took a seat in front of me. She was dressed in a tailored, formal suit consisting of a jacket and dark blue trousers. On its small feet it wore black leather shoes. It held its tiny hands in its blazer’s pockets.
-Is it even possible? – I asked myself surprised. I rubbed my eyes and watched around to see if the guinea pig caught the attention of other passengers. However, they intently kept reading the newspaper or checking the phone. Everything looked like before.
-Yes, it is. I can give you the elixir of youth, so that you’ll never have to worry about your own mortality. This is the only chance in your life, it will never happen again, so you need to decide quickly .- said pig rummaging in the pocket of its blazer. She pulled out a small vial with fluorescent purple liquid inside. She shook the potion.
-It Costs nothing – said with encouragement.
I thought it was a dream. It must have been a dream. Most likely I lost consciousness and a huge pig was a figment of my imagination. I was amazed with my own visions. I was also incredibly intrigued by the whole situation and pulled my hand towards the bottle. Guinea pig gave me the mysterious fluid saying that I should drink all in one go.
I pulled a tiny plug easily and sniffed the liquid. It smelled like a mixture of sweet blueberries and rinse. I wasn’t frightened, for the first time I actually felt as if I was doing the right thing. With unusual for me trust to strangers I drank the whole potion without any second thoughts. Elixir, although smelled fruity, was extremely bitter and astringent. I saw a smile on the face of the rodent. Immediately I began to notice changes in its appearance. Pig’s fluffy hair disappeared, took on human skin color. On its head the brown hair sprouted, eyes turned green. Before I even realized, I saw a 30-year old woman who looked exactly like me - right in front of me.
-I forgot to add that the agreement was tied- answered the woman with my voice, finished last sip of my cold coffee and left the dining car. I looked out the window, it was pitch dark outside. I saw my reflection in the window. So now I was the guinea pig.
