The thing about life is...
I'm 29 today, won't see 30.
James, who is suffering from cancer, said goodbye to his relatives on his 29th birthday and planned to hike to his favorite Barafundle Bay for a night with his three friends Dave, Bill and Miles. Dave brought an oak sapling planted from acorn fruit, and wanted to plant James in Barafundle Bay. Bill built a stroller for James, who was already unable to move due to cancer on one leg. Miles gradually alienated James after he got sick, but this time it was beyond everyone's expectations. Once, both James and Miles wanted to be writers, but now, James has no time, and Miles has given up.
The whole journey was interspersed with the laughter and play of four friends. They smoked, drank, fights, set off fireworks for James, and took the ferry to the island; they took care of James and watched him go from bad to worse, never being able to walk two steps with a cane. When they couldn't stand up, they could only sit on the cart; they took turns carrying him after the cart accidentally fell into the cliff, and in the middle of the night after the medicine bag was lost, they flashed a flashlight and searched in the grass.
But this journey is not just James' pilgrimage, the lives of the three friends are also naked in front of each other. James told Bill that you were supposed to go to Amazon to shoot tree frogs, but you ended up filming a brain-dead daytime TV show just to pay off your mortgage and be with a girl you don't love at all. Tell Dave, what are you trying to do, what are you searching for, I happened to be sick when you were laid off, and you will take care of me as a matter of course, but what about when I am gone? Tell Miles, you said you want to become a writer, but why you gave up like that? You said you didn't finish the novel, but I found out on your computer two years ago and you have finished writing it.
Bill said, I have been with her for seven years, and she has just been pregnant, can I go away.
Dave said, I promised your mother to take care of you.
Miles said, what about it, my father has published three books at my age.
James, who was gradually approaching the end of his life, vented his desire for life to his friends. He said,
I'm angry with all of you. I don't want to die. I want more time. I'd take anyone of your pointless consumer-fucker lives. I was going to do so much.
When they finally arrived at Barafundle Bay, they lost their carts, part of their luggage, oak saplings, and tents. It was then that James said the plan for the trip: I will go swimming tomorrow, try my best to swim further, and then I Will not come back, I hope you will be by my side at that time. You will tell others that you found me missing when you got up early in the morning, and it was too late to find me by the sea.
After a dispute, my friends accepted it in pain and helplessness. Bill asked James why he didn’t swallow sleeping pills like others. James said, that’s give in. I want the sea to take me away. I want to stay awake until the last moment. I want to feel something, even if it is the pain of sea water pouring into my lungs, I want to feel my struggle, I want to feel this grand, horrible and fearless.
The next day, James swam far away. Miles followed closely, followed by Bill and Dave; Dave had a cramp and had to go back to the beach. Miles jokingly said to James that you almost lived longer than Dave.
Miles followed James into the water, pressed his shoulders, watched him walk towards the end of his life a little bit, and then returned to the shore holding James' body.
At the end, James in the narration said on his 30th birthday,
So I raise a morphine toast to you all. Remember that you were loved by me, and that you made my life a happy one. And there's no tragedy in that.
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