Liam looked the same as he did when he uploaded. Preserved in time, in a time before the talk, before the pain, the fight and the lonely nights. But there weren’t those creases that pulled his mouth down, that sat by his eyes. He looked better than all the times they spent at various doctors and specialists. Looking for… relief. Not even a cure, just relief. He looked better than all those days curled up in bed waiting for the current flare-up to stop.“You’re looking good,” Liam said.
“Bullshit! I’m getting grayer every day. Got called Gramps last week.”
“You’re still handsome to me.”
“I know,” Liam smiled. “I’m surprised you haven’t changed your appearance by now.”
“I’ve gone back and forth. Sometimes I make myself younger or change eyes and hair. But with you… I want to look how you remember me.”
But you don’t.
For better or worse, those who remain on Earth remain bound to time.
"Earthbound" by Kergiby will appear in Clade - A Post-Self Anthology, out August 1!