Defeat

He was loved by genetics but is possessed by age.

The face has softened to something more of a vertical puddle of skin collected on the front of a skull. Obsessively he touches and plays with its new spongy consistency. Endless smiles and grinding of teeth to test cheek structure and once strong jawline that attained so much for him. In the right mirror he sees the face of a version dripping with years - chin, mealy and liquid; drawn cheeks and sunken eyes; lips red for lack of color and now within laugh parentheses.

And he can't stop touching it, just feeling and moving the skin across the skull. Is it really gone - the face he once had - gone? And, lord, he is vain. Loves the look of himself more than the air that keeps him alive.

The "himself" that he made hay of up to this point is quickly being erased, and what does he have? Abundant resources have weakened his resolve. And now? And now? And now, what asset to exploit?