What happens when you throw a watch out of the window? Time flies. Many human eras ago that was a joke. Now time always flies.
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I, Ryall 16 5 1 3 5 (aged 1/117 of a star) get out of my hovercraft and look around. I am standing in front of a field of forget-me-nots and all I see except for flowers is a purple, threadbare carpet. I know just what to do, so I step onto the carpet and it starts to move gently upwards. I cling to the small piece of paper and think about why I am here.

I remember walking back to my hovercraft yesterday. As I got in, I noticed a piece of paper on the back seat. On it were scrawled a few words:
“Ryall 16 5 1 3 5:
Oldest New
Field of truth”
I thought about what to do, and then curiosity won and I decided to find out more. I knew where field of truth was, so that is where I am now.

The flowers far below me have merged into a sea of blue. I look up with a start. Was there a glint of purple? I crane my neck and squint upwards avoiding the red sun. The carpet is rising steadily upwards. As I hit a cloud, everything goes foggy. I wait until the cold mist disperses and then I see between two fluffy white clouds a floating ring, the size of a house. On second thought, I think that it actually is a house, changing colour.
The carpet is rising right up through the centre of the now forest coloured ring. All I see is the smooth surface and no sign of windows, or doors. I am encircled by sea-blue walls. The carpet has stopped moving. Suddenly, a lightning bolt crashes around me. Thunder and colourful lights erupt around me.

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When my head stops spinning, I can just make out a musty room, lit only by a few candles.
“So you did come”. I scrunch up my eyes and try to find the owner of the old, female voice. “You cannot see me; I forgot how to live long ago. I just exist, without any goal or reason.” Perhaps she senses my uncomfortable feeling, because she continues, “I am oldest new. You are here because you can make a difference. I have little time left to live. I want to use it to tell my story”. As she says these words, her voice sounds exhausted. “Ryall 16 5 1 3 5” I jump as she says my name loudly. “You found the paper and came without knowing why. You did not just submiss this as a waste of time.” She pauses and I give way to my question.
“Why am I here…and …” my voice trails away.
“You have every reason to be afraid of today’s world, but you can believe me. Ryall 16 5 1 3 5, listen to me. What do you have to lose? Time? “She snorts. “Humans have always raced against time, but what they do not see is that they cannot possibly win that race.” She sighs and continues, “Eras and eons ago, people were called ‘olds’. When I. Jones invented the universal shrinker and could resize rubbish, illnesses and ozone holes, the world changed and people were called ‘news’
In old times time went much slower. Seconds, hours and years were still counted. Now, they would be over in the blink of an eye.-“
“Blink?”I interrupt.
“Long ago, humans used to blink, but as time sped up, nobody had the time for blinking, so they just stopped.” I nod
“All those years ago people cried when someone’s life expired. They tried to stop death. They mourned, dug graves and wore black. Now, humans never have time to care about death anymore. Police officers just pick up the dead and turn them into renewable energy. Humans also used to have friends,-“
“Friends?” These words confuse me
“They are simply people you love.” She waits and then knowing what I am about to ask, calmly says. “You cannot know what love is, without ever experiencing it. In today’s world, humans just care about themselves. No one has time for friends, and love comes second to money and fame,” she gasps for a breath, “I-“, She wants to talk but something is holding her back. Then I hear her croak, “my time is over.” I turn around and around, looking for her. “Ryall 16 5 1 3 5! I am not asking that you change the world. I am just asking that you remember all I said. One day you might understand. Thank you for taking the time to come here.” In front of me, an old woman appears out of thin air and collapses on an armchair. Even without looking closer, I know that she is dead. Something I have never experienced before happens. Inside me something with the force of 100 hovercrafts is crashing down. Then, I start to cry. I walk up and kneel down before her.

A gentle bump makes me look up. Through slowly falling tears, I see how the walls, furniture, floor and ceiling become hazy and then disappear. A few seconds later I am kneeling in a field of forget-me-nots. Beside me lies an old body. Her home fell out of the sky, her voice and soul left too. All that is left of Oldest New now, is a thin, frail body. I pick it up and carry it to the place where the purple carpet lay. There, I burry her. The policemen will not get this body. I pick some flowers and lay them on the mound of earth, and then I mourn.

I leave, but come back every day, wearing black, and visit a friend whom I loved. And I am blinking my eyes all the time.