[ WP ] On your 60th birthday you find yourself on your death bed . In your last moments , 5 visitors enter the room . The visitors are the personification your past selves from age 10 to 50 . Instead of your life flashing before your eyes , they 've come to reflect on your life .

The doctor slowly clipped his bag shut. `` Remember John, stay in bed and warm, no need to catch pneumonia too.'' 
 
 `` At this point it'd just hasten things along Doc, I know it's coming.'' 
 
 The Doctor looked at him for a moment and held his gaze for too long and then looked away, down. When he spoke the lie was obvious in his voice. `` It's far from over John, you keep fighting and I'll see you next week.'' 
 
 The coughing racked John's thin frame and when he stopped spots flashed in front of his eyes. John smiled weakly. `` Sure, next week. I'll see you then.'' 
 
 After the doctor left John leaned back - it'd be an hour or two until Julie was home and so he decided to nap, too tired to read. He closed his eyes but then a discrete cough startled him. 
 
 Three figures sat around the bed, a boy, a young man and... and him, just a little younger. He looked back at the other two and realised they were him as well; the boy was him at maybe 10 and the young man looked about 25. 
 
 `` What's... what's happening. Am I dead?'' The middle aged John laughed, the twenties John grimaced and the kid just swung his legs, oblivious. 
 
 It was the middle aged John who spoke first. `` I sure hope not, I do n't think any of us want that!'' He smiled but the other two did n't, the kid was looking around and starting to fidget. `` We're here to look back at your life with you.'' 
 
 `` I do n't... understand, what do you mean?'' 
 
 The mid-twenties John spoke now, he sounded exasperated. `` You're dreaming, or hallucinating or something like that. So far I've never been confronted by my past selves so this is probably a one time thing dude.'' 
 
 `` You look like me!'' The youngest John had been staring at the mid-twenties John. 
 
 `` I am you kiddo.'' 
 
 `` Oh, what about them?'' 
 
 `` They're you too, I mean, you're them. Look we're all the same person. I'm you in about fifteen years and he's you in like forty...'' 
 
 `` Thirty six actually.'' Forty-six year old John sounded slightly hurt. 
 
 `` And he's you just before he dies. We're all figments of his imagination, or maybe you're all figments of mine and I'm lying drunk in a ditch somewhere after an awesome party.'' 
 
 Forty-six year old John butted in. `` No, we're here for him.'' He gestured to John in his bed. `` He's the one dying and as I said we're here to reflect on his life, to offer perspective.'' 
 
 `` Why's he dying so young for. ” A moment passed. “ Wait, what am I doing dying so young? ” He rounded on forty-six year old John. “ What did you do old man? ” 
 
 “ He didn ’ t do anything you idiot. ” John had finally found his voice, although it was soft and whispery. “ None of you did. It ’ s cancer and there was nothing we could do to avoid it. Now aren ’ t you supposed to help me reflect on things? ” 
 
 Twenties John and forty-six year old John were silent. “ What ’ s cancer? ” Young John ’ s voice was full of curiosity. 
 
 “ Jump up on the bed here. ” John shuffled over a bit and his youngest self came up, twenties John helped him clamber up on the big bed. “ Cancer is something that makes you sick. I have a kind of cancer which is going to make me really sick and pretty soon I am going to die. ” 
 
 Youngest John thought about that for a moment. “ So, am I going to die? ” 
 
 “ Well, not for at least fifty years. Exactly fifty years actually. That ’ s a really, really long time away. ” Youngest John seemed momentarily satisfied. 
 
 “ Did we lead a good life? ” Mid-twenties John looked scared now, his face the same as youngest John. John would have liked to invite him to sit on the bed too but he knew it would be rejected. 
 
 “ I think so. We got married, had kids, earned enough to have some good holidays. ” 
 
 “ Who did we marry? ” 
 
 John looked to his forty-six year old self. “ should we answer that? ” 
 
 “ None of this is real remember, you ’ re talking to yourself. ” 
 
 “ Oh. We married Julie Jones. ” 
 
 Mid-twenties John thought for a moment and then realisation struck. “ Bobby ’ s girlfriends?! ” 
 
 John and forty-six year old John both laughed. “ Not for a while now but yes, that ’ s who she was. ” 
 
 Mid-twenties John seemed amazed. At last he had organised his thoughts “ She ’ s hot. ” 
 
 The other two laughed again. “ She sure is. ” Forty six year old John chuckled. 
 
 “ So, is that it? ” Mid twenties John was frowning again. John rememenbred what it was like to be so young and questioning everything. “ You got married, had kids, got a bit of money? I was going to be famous, write, act, sing, *do* something with my life. ” 
 
 “ You ’ re twenty five, are you doing any of that now? ” John knew the answer but asked anyway. 
 
 “ No, I don ’ t have time. I mean, I need to work to ear enough for my crappy place I live and I don ’ t… oh I see you blame me for this? ” 
 
 “ No, no not at all. What I mean is that we ’ ve all got problems and sometimes the things we want had to wait and the things we needed took priority. ” All the Johns contemplated that. 
 
 “ I want to be a fireman when I grow up. ” Young John had grown bored again. 
 
 Forty-six year old John moved to sit closer to youngest John. “ Afraid we didn ’ t manage that kiddo but we do once go on a ridealong and ring the bell. It ’ s in about four years. ” 
 
 “ That ’ s all I really want to do anyway. ” Youngest John seemed satisfied again. 
 
 “ I think I get it. ” Mid twenties John had walked to the window and was looking out. “ You ’ ve got a pretty good life, we do okay. We don ’ t get everything we want but we get enough. ” 
 
 “ Are you happy with that? ” John honestly wanted to know. 
 
 “ I… I think so. ” He looked round at the pictures all over the wall. “ You seem like a lot of people love you and I want that too. ” 
 
 “ You ’ ll get it, just be you. ” 
 
 “ Then yeah, I guess I ’ m okay. ” 
 
 “ What about you kiddo? ” 
 
 Youngest John twisted round to face John “ If I get to ring the fire engine bell then I guess it ’ s okay. ” 
 
 John looked to his closest in age self. “ And you? ” 
 
 “ I ’ ve always been okay John. I ’ ve already done this and I worked this out. Don ’ t you remember? It was a week ago we learned that we had cancer and tonight I am going to tell Julie. I had to get it right with myself before I could tell her. Are you okay though ” 
 
 John remembered and remembered that night. She ’ d cried and cried and he ’ d told her that he had years left to go. Fourteen as it turned out. He ’ d been okay with it then and he was okay now he guessed. 
 
 “ Yeah, I think I ’ m okay. ” 
 
 “ That ’ s good honey, can I get you anything? ” Julie ’ s voice make him turn, she was standing in the doorway. John looked back but the other versions of him were gone. She came closer and saw that he was crying. 
 
 “ What ’ s wrong? What happened, did the doctor say something? ” 
 
 “ No, nothing at all. ” John held her close and kissed her. “ I love you. ” She kissed him back. 
 

