March Winners, Babbitt: Level 4

If I were Natalie, I would take a drink from the magic water of immortality. With this once-in-a-lifetime chance, how can you refuse such a marvelous, dreamy option? Yeah, humans are not supposed to live forever, or so they say, but by living forever, think of everything you can accomplish. You'd be able to educate yourself on every aspect of everything on this planet. You could enhance any interest area of yours and gain many others. Your wisdom could be used to better the lives of thousands- doesn't that sound worthy of a drink?

You would not have to worry about dying; you would be much braver in this dangerous world; it is not a bad thing for you to feel more comfortable in your skin that way. I would greatly enjoy this, because it would provide me with a greater imagination and hope for me to make a lovely impact on this world, and maybe a few other worlds.

I would be fine with taking the responsibility and volunteering for space missions that would take humans a lifetime to complete; travel to universes no human has ever thought was possible. It would provide a mantra in my life that clarifies that nothing is impossible.

Every dream you thought was too ridiculous to dream just seems like a stepping stone to this new universe where you can dream anything you have ever wanted. Living life forever would never be boring, because the world is filled with infinite opportunities and choices. So when a miracle comes your way, just take a good look and never look back.

People think that immortality is a great gift. If I am offered a cup of water from the Fountain of Youth, I would refuse it and this is why:

First, if I have immortality, my wife would age and I wouldn't. So then I would have to find new wives frequently. If I decide to be single, I would have a boring life because being single and immortal doesn't mix. I would outlive my children, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren, etc… Either I would give my wife and children immortality or live to see them die. My wife would want to give her whole family immortality, and my children would want to give their children immortality, and my children's spouses would want to give their family immortality too. Soon my whole family would be immortal.

Next, I would lose my friends and so I would have to find new ones. My friends would wonder why I am still twenty while they are seventy. I would watch my best friends age and die. If I gave them immortality, they would want to give their whole family immortality too and we would have the problem I explained in the previous paragraph.

Lastly, with immortality, I would never die. The world could blow up and I still wouldn't be dead. When we are mortal, we enjoy life and make it the best we can. Since you would never die, you can be tortured or live in a volcano!

These are my reasons why I would refuse the offer from drinking the water from the Fountain of Youth. Immortality may sound cool but once I choose to take it, I would have to endure the consequences (good or bad) for the rest of my life.