"You're going to die if you don't stop."
I don't care I have to keep going.
"You've done so much to help everyone already. See? The crisis is now very well in hand."
But it isn't enough yet.
"Please, you're hurting yourself, your feet in in blisters, you're growing so thin, forgive us.. but if we have to, we'll make you rest."
This prompt strongly reminds me of this story. A person driving themselves to pain and possibly to a death that no one desires them to suffer.
@internutter/challenge-04272-k254-unreachable-goal -- Anon Guest
[AN: I suspect two Nonnies gave me this one. Thanks to the both of you]
"Take your rest. It's your turn," they said. I'm not done. There's more to do. There's always more to do. So... much... more... to do.
"Not yet," I repeat. "Not yet. I have more to do." There was always more.
Then someone dribbled a pinch of fine sand through thumb and forefinger, and muttered a simple, ancient word. After that, exhaustion, lassitude, and more than a little magic dragged me down.
Someone must have caught me. I only knew because nothing hurt when I woke. Well. Nothing was injured when I woke. My feet were pulsing with the echoes of past footsteps. They threatened worse when I tried to shift my weight using them.
"Stay down," advised a familiar voice. I remembered that voice. The same one that once told me to stay in bed until I gathered my strength.
"Wraithvine," I whispered. "You... came to judge me. I haven't done enough. There's never enough done..."
Wraithvine once more held my hand on top of hirs. "I know what you wanted to do with yourself. I remember your vow. But I must tell you," Now hir other hand covered mine. "You cannot hurt yourself just to help others. That path leads only to your destruction, and once you are destroyed... you can't help anyone."
"I don't have your time," I argued.
"I still live it at the same pace. Every day, one day at a time. You must care for yourself as well as those around you. I have to do the same." Wraithvine had a smile for me. "I've never courted death. You should remember that when you move forward. If you don't look after you - who will?"
Finally, I allowed myself to rest. To heal. To gather my strength for the next challenge to my skills.
Taking things one day at a time, for all the days I may have.
[Photo by Jenna Christina on Unsplash]
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