Turri: The Immortal Jellyfish Who...
Updated: Dec 1, 2020
The Grim Reaper was furious. He was livid. He was seething. He paced up and down inside his castle and raged at his assistants. "Since the beginning of time, every creature that has had the fortune to be alive, has had to die. When I come for a creature, that means his time on Earth is OVER. Who is this creature that defies me? Bring him or her to me at once."
One of The Grim Reaper's assistants set off on a journey. After landing on Earth, and diving into the oceans, the assistant found the life-form he was looking for, and he brought it back to the Grim Reaper.
"What is this?" the Grim Reaper asked, wrinkling his nose, when the assistant presented the creature to him.
"It's a jellyfish," the assistant said. "Sir."
"Jellyfish?" The Grim Reaper said, in disgust. "I'm being defied by a JELLYFISH?"
"My apologies," the jellyfish said. "Yes, I'm a jellyfish. I'm tiny, like really small. My name is Turritopsis Dohrnii. My friends call me Turri. I'm immortal. Can live forever. Sorry, not sorry."
"What rubbish!" The Grim Reaper snapped. "Not possible! No one can live forever!"
"I can. I do. If you do not trust me, ask the humans. When I was discovered by the humans a few years ago, they went crazy, like they had discovered the fountain of youth. They named us immortal jellyfish. Which is true. When I sense danger, like I am sensing now from you all, especially you - ugly man in a hood and with a scythe over there - I turn myself into a..."
Without warning, before anyone could stop him, Turri turned into a little polyp.
"What HAPPENED here?" the Grim Reaper said outraged. "What did you DO?"
"Turned myself into a polyp... and this is the state I'll remain in," Turri said. "Until it is safe for me to become a jellyfish again. I will become a jellyfish only when I know I will be okay, when I will be safe, which means, as long as you guys are around, I'll remain a polyp. So, THERE."
"No!" the Grim Reaper snapped. "You can't do this! Chickens do NOT turn into eggs again. Butterflies do NOT turn into caterpillars again. You cannot defy ME! I'm DEATH."
"The problem is," Turri mused, not caring about the Grim Reaper's fury. "This is boring! Life as a jellyfish was not much fun to begin with. It was NO fun! Just an aimless existence... like. Eat. Sleep. Drift. Eat. Sleep. Drift. Now, as a polyp it is even worse, more boring..."
"Shut up," the Grim Reaper said. "Don't add mindless chatter to your list of sins."
"I've nothing to do. If a jellyfish's life is dull, a polyp's life is even more so. I don't think there is anything worse than facing endless days without a single fun thing to do. What is the point of an immortal life if it means endless drifting or staying still as a polyp?"
"SHUT UP!" the Grim Reaper said.
"Of late, I have been wondering... do I want to be scared to death or bored to death? The only way NOT to be bored is to do something crazy... like become a jellyfish in front of you, but if I do that, you'll kill me. What am I scared of? Boredom or death? Boredom or death?"
"OH GOD!" The Grim Reaper rested his head on his assistant's shoulder and began to sob. "All my life I've been afraid of this! I hoped this day would never come, but it's here, isn't it? A creature defying me! Not only that, but complaining about its immortal life to me?"
"Yes, it is..." the assistant said, patting the Grim Reaper on his shoulder. "There, there."
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