Machine

I think euthanasia should be legalized.

She couldn't breathe by herself, so they'd hooked her up to a machine.

She didn't like this at all.

The endless whirr of the life support burnt her like the poisonous caress of a leper's tongue on her cheek, stinging both cold and hot. There was a mask upon her face. It was plastic and see-through, like white lies being unraveled slowly and thoroughly. Was it really so bad to just want to let go?

People visited her with gifts she would never receive, condolences she would never want nor had ever wanted. She was powerless to stop them.

Life's clinging and exasperating embrace was that of a troublesome animal begging you to pity it for its unfortunate circumstance. This you did, though you must inevitably grow tired of the animal.

She was just so bored by life, but life forced her to keeping on living it.

Life isn't a choice, however unfortunate this may be. The man who couldn't walk never chose that path. The man who couldn't speak did not sever his own tongue. The man who could not hear did not forcibly demand and endeavor to have his ears removed.

As long as there is life, there will be troubles. Isn't death so much simpler?

Author's Note

Just a bit of musing on my part. I don't really like the fact that it's nearly a social convention to stay alive.

Reviews

[Marie]

You are right. When people have no quality of life, they should not be forced to keep on enduring that life.

[Woody]

indeed life is so much simpler for those crippled by "unfair" afflictions.
I like the "like the poisonous caress of a leper's tongue"

[Nusquam Esse]

I really like the bit about those who are cast a lot in life, crippled in someway, many of them did not choose to. I like the way you draw a parallel with life in general, as if by being given life we must carry that lot. Poignant thought for someone hooked up to life-support.