The Legend of the Immortal Man

A Short Story, Hundreds of Years Long, About Writing

As Xa Jub scribbled The Legend of the Immortal Man on a scroll of papyrus, he wondered if anyone would read his work and find some joy in it.

That’s what he told the town’s errand boy, Jay Carc, when Jay asked him why he spends his days hunched over a desk.

According to the diary of Jay Carc, which was found in a chest in a closet by his great-grandson, Jay Carc the Fourth.

So says the Fourth Jay Carc’s friend Saul Butcher anyway, who was known for two things; honesty and collecting old books.

Saul Butcher related the story of his friend’s findings to Mr. Rearden when he came by to explore Saul’s library.

At least, that’s what the transcript of Case No.367, section 3a, Mr. Rearden’s testimony on the events of the murder, indicates.

As was expressed by legal historian Hank Smith in his lecture “On the Origins of the Modern Legal Process.”

The notes of a student, one James A. Anderson, confirmed this.

And a librarian, one Oliver Maxwell, confirmed the notes of James A. Anderson, having found them in a digital database.

In any case, that’s the story Oliver’s son, Brady, tells during interviews when he is asked why he began his successful archeological expedition in search of Xa Jub’s The Legend of the Immortal Man.