Natural Thought Prompt #13
Immortal Animals
Prompt: Consider the characteristics of so-called immortal animals. Think about their futures. What comes to mind?
What comes to mind when you think of real-life immortality? Do you think of certain foods, like Twinkies or honey? Do you maybe think vampires are real? Do you think about the following animals that may well be immortal? Let me tell you about them.
We start with the species of jellyfish known as Turritopsis doohmii scientifically. After an injury or disease, it can revert to to its polyp stage in three days. The jellyfish then eventually grows back into its adult body. This can happen over and over indefinitely.
We also might know about lobsters, who are not necessarily immortal. They can die of disease, and are obviously eaten by predators, but they do not die of old age. In fact, they grow bigger as they age, so the bigger a lobster, the older it is. However, some lobsters die during the molting process because it requires too much energy the bigger they are.
Planarian worms, aka flatworms, are regenerative. Remember that myth that earthworms can grow back if cut in half? It came from this creature being able to do that. It also regenerates in cases of aging or somehow damaged tissue.
Finally, we have Tardigrades, aka water bears! They can live for thousands of years and can be found anywhere on Earth. They are known as the most indestructible creature, and have survived exposure to outer space, the most unforgiving or environments. I think they’re also pretty cute.
Write a piece on one of these animals, or create an immortal animal of your own. How do they remain immortal? Get creative!
The guidelines:
- Write any kind of piece based on the prompt above!
- Make sure your first tag is either “Fiction”, “Poetry”, “Essay”, or “Article” depending on what it is!
- Tag me at the end of your piece (@rosierosebtr3) so I can read your response and comment on it!
- If you publish your piece outside of Promptly Written, be sure to tag @ravynehawke as well so she can view your post and mention it in our newsletters.
Happy writing!
