‘He doesn’t have much time left’, he thought and sighed.

He was right. He ought to be. It was not the first time he was seeing someone die, definitely not the first of his kind.

‘Relax. You mayflies don’t’ live for long. Almost all of you die within a day.’

‘I know.’ He was unnaturally chirpy for someone who is just a few minutes from dying.

‘That’s how we are. We are born, we grow up, we mate and we die; all in a day’s life.’

‘Don’t you think one day is too short? Haven’t you ever desired to live longer?’

‘Why no! What would I do for another day? It would be terribly boring!’

‘I have been around for so long. It’s never been boring for me.’

‘Yeah, I hear you turtles live for almost 200 years. How old are you?’

‘I don’t remember exactly. I should be about 160.’

‘Wow! That’s a lot of time. What do you do with so much time?’

‘More or less the same that you do in a day. But our life isn’t as exciting or upbeat as yours. We are relaxed. We think a lot. We spend a lot of time mulling over things.’

‘Oh I see. So what would you do if your life was just a day long.’

‘Oh that would be so hurried. I will have to get a lot of things done in a single day. I would be so drained of energy. No, I don’t like being so tired and flushed. Probably that itself would kill me. I think I would like to live longer.’

‘But you don’t know how long you will live, right? What if today is the last day of your life?’

It couldn't hear the answer. It was dead before that.

‘Hmm. That’s something I have never thought about. I must think about that. There’s a lot of work I have to do before I die. What if today's the last day of my life?’

It was.