1 Returning

I graduated from high school at 18 and soon went to an engineering college. I wasn't very smart, but I could solve some problems. And after 5 years, I was able to graduate as a civil engineer. Then, I quickly got a job with a large construction company and worked for 20 years of my life

I had made some investments during those 20 years. I was advised from a very early age to invest and not depend solely on my salary. So, as it got to a point where I didn't have to work anymore because I was earning just for my investments, about three times, almost four times my salary, I decided to retire.

Now that I didn't have to work, wake up early, and provide services to someone else, I decided to pursue a hobby, which was studying history, particularly the history of the human race.

I become really curious to understand how the Egyptians built those pyramids more than 5,000 years ago. Today, we have the technology to create skyscrapers, but we still don't fully comprehend how people from a much less advanced society built such incredible monuments.

I'm very curious to understand how humans progressed from inventing fire, especially the wheel. I think people often underestimate the importance of the wheel. Without it, transportation would be extremely difficult because carrying items is much easier when you have a cart, for example. So, we went from primitive beings who knew very little to beings who know a little about everything.

Now that I don't need to work anymore, I've decided to focus on this hobby of studying ancient civilizations and how they formed. In fact, I'm studying the entire human race from the beginning, whether it's the African australopithecus, the erectus, who was the first human race to use fire, or the homo sapiens, which is our own.

If there was a missing link, it would be between Australopithecus africanus and Homo habilis.

Australopithecus africanus was essentially the stepping stone from the human ancestors to a more advanced species.

Homo habilis was indeed the first member of the Homo genus and marked the beginning of the human race. They started using tools like stones and sticks, which were developments some primates in the modern world had also begun to exhibit. This occurred over a million years ago.

So, I spent year after year studying, visiting ancient civilizations, researching hominids, from the African australopithecines to the Egyptians, Romans, Persians, and all the civilizations I could manage to find.

My family, I ended up just visiting. I separated from my wife because she found my curiosity incomprehensible. I let her go. My son kept in touch. My older son got married, and the younger one went to college. My family basically went their own way. I'm already 60 years old. I'm not young anymore. But thanks to these experiences of visiting, exploring, I became an adventurer, something I've wanted since childhood. I learned useful skills, like using stones, as the Homo erectus did to make fire. I learned ancient engineering. So, I know how some civilizations built incredible monuments. It's amazing to know that civilizations from that time, over 5,000 years ago, with little knowledge, and mathematics had just been invented, managed to construct such fantastic things.

At 95 years of age, it's truly remarkable, considering that most people typically reach 80. I'm sorry to hear about your ex-wife's passing five years ago at the age of 87. It sounds like you've seen your family grow, with your older son having a grandson and a great-grandson on the way, and your younger son also becoming a father. Your life has been full of studying, exploring, experiencing, loving, and feeling sadness. If you were to leave today, it's clear that you have no regrets. It's a profound sense of having fulfilled your duties.

Closing your eyes

Opening the eyes

Hum? What is happening? Look to the side, look to the other side... Where am I? Is this a forest? Did I die? Did I go to paradise? Or something like that? Who would have thought this would happen? Wait a moment... My... My hands... Are... furry?

I started to touch myself, look at myself, and realized something. Something very strange was happening to me. But what I could perceive was that I had turned into some kind of monkey.