I Am Your Traveling Companion

Thomas Elson

- On viewing photographs in the Science Photo Library.

…and we both know how this will end.

Fantasize a triumph as if you’ll win a gold medal. Allow others to devise life plans for you.

Permit others to convince you they can beat me. Ignore me for months - until after Christmas, or after your anniversary, or a graduation, or your daughter’s wedding. React in a variety of ways – overeating, imbibing, behavioral excesses, self-pity: Why me? You ask. Why not you? What makes you so special? What sets you apart? You’ll learn soon enough – I may be slow, but I’m never late.

I’ll interfere with your life – once a month, once a week, once a day, then twice, then every night. You will complain, create excuses, worry. If you’re pushed into it, you’ll have a follow-up; however, by then I will have migrated, and I will stay with you.

There are more steps - wallow in denial and anger, bargaining, a removal, a recurrence, your depression. As travelling companions, we have always known how this will end; because, as you may have guessed by now - I may be slow, but I’m never late. You will run out of time. You have had your chance, and you will lose.

Published in Issue No. 8, Verbum Clavis, May 1st, 2025.

Thomas Elson’s stories have appeared in New Writing Scotland, Short Édition, New Ulster, Lampeter, Mad Swirl, Blink-Ink, and Adelaide. Moria nominated him for the Pushcart Prize.