A Lifetime...

Her hair had started to come out in clumps. 

What a weird phrase. But one everyone understood. Masses of hair just letting go all at once. Covering her hands as she washed what was remaining. It was almost time. 

She'd like to say it was unexpected but it wasn't. She had known it was coming. Had been preparing for it. She had told her wife that she loved her. She had been to the lawyer's office and made all of the final arrangements, making sure that all of the paperwork was in order. For her wife and for herself. She had already set up her successor on the board and talked about future plans. Though she knew full and well that what she wanted to do was not necessarily what would be done. Once she was gone she had no more control. She could only hope that this time she had chosen well. 

She hadn't always. 

But you do this enough times and you learn. 

She had lost count by now but this was well over 1000 lifetimes. 

Or partial lifetimes at least. 

Though that did count the multiple loops where she started a new life on its last day. Rebirth, death, rebirth, death, rebirth, death, over and over and over in a new vessel each time. That was some petty bullshit. But a quick reminder that a continual loop would mean both of them were stuck forever and the next time she opened her eyes it was in a hospital room with a very worried doctor looking on, "I thought we'd lost you, little man."

So she'd started all over with that one. 

That was the great mystery of her life now. Where would the next one start? Would she be a newborn? Or would she come in to a life already in progress, so to speak. Though no matter which life she joined the original owner had moved on. One soul per vessel, thank you very much. Her preference was to take over at around 20, but she didn't get to choose. Not age, not gender, not location. Dealer's choice. 

But no matter what the vessel looked like, no matter the set of memories she inherited, she was still her inside.

That had been her wish afterall. She had wanted eternal life. And also to not grow too old. She didn't want her body to age past 40. Which at the time had been a decent and normal lifespan. If she had realized that eventually that would change she would have chosen a higher age. That and she would have been more careful with her wording and clarified it was her body she wanted to be in, not just any body. Though, honestly, looking back now though starting over again and again had its drawbacks trying to hide the fact that she never aged would have had its own challenges as well. And she would have had a much harder time amassing her first fortunes. Which turned into her first cause. 

It was easier being a man for most of her lives. She was taken more seriously. She was able to set up trusts and arrange for money to be available for her the next time around. People listened when she spoke and didn't try to steal from her nearly as often. When she had realized how much easier it was to be a man she started to fight for equal rights. When she realized how difficult it was to live in a body that was viewed as disabled she began to fight for equal access. She knew what it was like to be a woman trapped inside a body that was not the gender she knew she was and so was an early advocate for trans rights. 

They say that travel is the best way to develop empathy for people who are different than you, she knew a better way, but living a life that is not the life you were born into wasn't really an option for most people. How many genies were out there in the wild? And how many people were able to make a wish that didn't immediately backfire on them?

You had to be precise in your wording and you had to look at all angles to see where it might trip you up. Genies didn't particularly like fulfilling wishes. Her guess was that as a people they had bargained with something else to get the power to live forever but hadn't specified how so this was their fate. Trapped in a bottle or lamp waiting to be set free only to have to serve the person who set them free by granting them three wishes. She did understand that there were a certain number of cycles that had to be fulfilled and then the genie would be free of their confines. Still beholden to anyone who figured out what they were, but it would be easier to hide if they weren't trapped in a lamp. 

They were also tied to the person who found them until three wishes were made. No matter how long it took. 

She had made two so far. She kept the third as an insurance policy. If she grew bored with eternal life she wanted a way out and how many times could she expect to find a genie? So they had been bound together for over 1000 lifetimes. She didn't think it was that terrible of a situation for the genie. They were free to wander the world, to live as they chose, not having to go back into their lamp. They could if they wanted to. If they felt like hiding away. But they didn't need to wait to be released when they were done. They had access to the world. And nobody could force them into service because they were still tied to her. 

But freedom is its own draw and they just wanted to be free. Not waiting constantly to see if she was going to use that last wish. On purpose or by accident. So sometimes they were petty and tried their best to make her miserable. Surely she would wish for death if she was in an eternal loop of living and dying right? But she had outstubborned them. Letting them know she would do that forever if she had to and as long as she did, that third wish would never be made. She hadn't wished for death then, just let it be known she would do that loop forever if she had to. She hadn't wished for an easier life in any of the incarnations that had been challenging, painful, terrifying. The one thing she always knew is that it would end. On that vessel's 40th birthday at the latest. But generally in their 39th year. 

She had been careful. Never wished upon a star or birthday candles or a loose eyelash. Never used the word casually in conversation. She hoped. She never wished. And so far it had worked. 

And now she was coming to the end of another life. She had taken over this one when the original owner had a skiing accident at 10 years old. What would have been a tragedy for their family ended up being celebrated as a miracle. There was no medical reason why she had survived but sometimes things were unexplainable like that. Of course she hadn't survived. The original her that had lived in this body and loved strawberry ice cream and racing down mountains and dreamed of Olympic glory, she had moved on. To what the new owner of her body didn't know. Had originally never wanted to know, but lately realized that she was tired. Tired of the endless living. 

But for now there was still so much she wanted to accomplish. She would take the next life, or maybe the next few, and replenish her accounts. Refill the coffers. Make sure she had the money the next time she restarted in a life that was primed to be good at doing good. She'd keep fighting for a better world. One that she could look back on and see the changes, the ones she had some small part in bringing forward. 

A voice buzzed in her head. 

That they had helped bring forward. Yes, together they had done a lot of good. And all you could hope for was that they could continue to do so for at least a few more cycles. She hoped it would be enough.

Hoped. 

She said hope.