[ WP ] Two people discover a fountain of youth . The problem is that upon drinking the water you turn back into an infant . The two decide to take turns raising each other in order to live forever until one day one of them decides to break this agreement .

“ Abe? What are you doing? ” I watched him from the doorway as he packed his suitcase. One suitcase. My throat felt like it was about to close shut. 
 He looked up at me. “ What I should have done, back in Carthage, ” he said. “ Leaving. ” 
 I hit the doorframe with my tiny, ten-year-old ’ s fist. It made a thump, but the thin plywood didn ’ t so much as splinter. I was always weak at this age, and he knew it. “ We had a deal, Abe. ” 
 “ Yeah, ” he said. “ We did. ” He folded a pair of socks, and stuffed them in the corner of the suitcase, staring at them a moment, not meeting my eyes. “ And now we don ’ t. ” 
 “ But why? Why now? It ’ s been, what, six thousand years? And you ’ re leaving me now? ” 
 “ Six thousand, two hundred and seventy three years, ” he said. He closed the suitcase with a soft click. “ This is your hundred and twenty-fifth childhood. ” 
 “ And you were just going to leave me here, after all this time? No explanation? ” I demanded. “ Come on, Abe. You owe me that much. ” 
 He sat down on the bed with a sigh, and I stood in the doorway, staring him down. Realistically, there was nothing I could do if he decided to run; my child ’ s body weighed less than seventy pounds and Abe was a strong man, but I knew in my heart that I would try. 
 “ Brother, ” he said. “ I ’ m losing my mind. ” 
 It hit me in the chest like a hammer. “ What? ” 
 “ I ’ m losing my mind, ” he repeated. “ Every time I drink from the chalice, I lose something. A memory, a concept, a sensation. Eventually I can ’ t even remember what I forgot. Carthage is- ” he paused, correcting himself. “ -was the first time I can remember it. ” 
 “ What did you forget in Carthage? ” I asked him. 
 He looked frightened, and his voice cracked. “ I can ’ t remember. ” 
 
 He stared at me, through me. “ It ’ s getting worse, Kane. Some days I ’ ll forget a word, or a name, and there are so many more *things* now. The other day, in the city center, I nearly killed a man. I feel like I ’ m not really myself anymore. ” He shook his head, closing his eyes. “ I ’ m sorry, brother, ” he said. “ I ’ m just so afraid of hurting you. ” 
 I watched him there, for a moment, the brine trickling down his face. If he kept crying forever, I wondered, would he make an ocean? Perhaps at the bottom of every ocean was an immortal man, crying helplessly. 
 “ Please stay, ” I said, but I knew that he wouldn ’ t.
